UK Feb manufacturing PMI: a Big miss on expectations
The manufacturing sector activity in the UK economy showed a bigger-than expected drop and slowed its pace of expansion sharply in February, the latest data from Markit revealed on Wednesday.
The final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in the UK arrived at 54.6 points in Feb, as compared to a previous 55.7 reading. Markets had predicted a drop to 55.6.
Key Points:
Output and new orders rise solidly, albeit at slower rates
Price inflationary pressures remain elevated
Rob Dobson of Markit commented in the release, “The latest PMI signals that the UK manufacturing sector continued its solid start to the year. Although rates of expansion in output and new business lost impetus in February, growth remained comfortably above the long-run averages. The survey is signalling quarterly manufacturing output growth close to the 1.5% mark so far in the opening quarter which, if achieved, would be one of the best performances over the past seven years. “The big question remains as to whether robust growth can be sustained or whether it will continue to wane in the coming months.”
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
