Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations improved less than expected in April, dampening optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of industrial order expectations increased by 1.0 point to a reading of 1.0 this month from March’s reading of 0.0. Analysts had expected the index to rise by 4.0 point to 4.0 in April.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5134 from around 1.5137 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7160 from 0.7158 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were lower. London’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.3%, the EURO STOXX 50 slumped 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.85%, while Germany's DAX declined 0.1%.