Investing.com - U.K. construction sector activity continued to ease in March, settling below consensus and dampening optimism over the British economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) said that their U.K. construction purchasing managers' index dropped to a seasonally adjusted 52.2 last month from February’s reading of 54.5.
Economists had expected the index to slip to 52.4 in March.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates expansion, below indicates contraction.
The report indicated that the housing slowdown offset the rebound in civil engineering and commercial work, while input price inflation also slowed further from January’s peak.
“U.K. construction firms experienced a growth slowdown in March, with the loss of momentum centered on housebuilding,” Markit senior economist Tim Moore commented in the report.
“A weaker trend for residential work has been reported throughout 2017 so far, which provides an indication that the cooling U.K. housing market has started to act as a drag on the construction sector,” he added.
Following the report, GBP/USD traded at 1.2436 compared to 1.2433 ahead of the release, EUR/GBP was unchanged at 0.8569, while GBP/JPY traded at 137.41 compared to 137.37 previously.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded mixed. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.50%, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.11%, France's CAC 40 inched up 0.09%, while Germany's DAX fell 0.10%.