Investing.com - Manufacturing activity in the U.K. expanded at the slowest rate in three months in September, rounding out one of the weakest quarters in two years, according to data released on Thursday.
Research group Markit said its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index eased to 51.5 in September from a revised reading of 51.6 in August. Economists had expected the index to tick down to 51.3.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.
“The UK manufacturing sector remained sluggish at the end of the third quarter, stunned by a triple combination of a sharp slowdown in consumer spending, weak business investment and stagnating export order inflows”, Rob Dobson, senior economist at survey compiler Markit said.
“The survey is still broadly consistent with stagnation, or even a mild downturn, when compared to official data.”
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5139 from around 1.5134 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7366 from 0.7370 earlier.