Investing.com - Manufacturing production in the UK beat expectations in August, increasing optimism over the British economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the UK Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production rose 0.4% in August from the prior month, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise and following a rise of 0.4% the prior month.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose 2.8% in August, beating forecasts of a 1.9% gain and after increasing at a rate of 2.7% in the previous month.
The report also showed that industrial production advanced by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in August, in line with forecasts and compared to a 0.3% increase in the preceding month.
Year-on-year, industrial production rose by 1.6% in August, beating expectations and following the 1.1% advance registered a month earlier.
At the same time, another report showed that the trade balance fell by £14.24 billion in August.
Analysts had expected the balance to fall by £11.20 billion, compared to a decrease of £12.38 billion the month prior. Non-EU trade was down £5.38 billion, compared to a fall of £5.34 billion the prior months and beating forecasts of a decrease of £3.60 billion.
Following the reports, GBP/USD was at 1.3190 from around 1.3176 ahead of the announcement, EUR/GBP was at 0.8931 from 0.8938 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 148.29 from 148.08 prior to the release.
Meanwhile, European stocks were down. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.04%, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.37%, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.25%, while Germany's DAX traded down 0.36%. In Spain the IBEX 35 decreased 0.60%.