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Investing.com - Manufacturing production in the U.K. fell for the third straight month in December, dampening optimism over the country's economic outlook, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in December, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.1% and following a decline of 0.3% a month earlier.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production fell at rate of 1.7%, worse than estimates for a decline of 1.4%, after declining at a rate of 1.2% in November.
The report also showed that industrial production fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.1%, compared to forecasts for a drop of 0.1% and following a decline of 0.8% in the preceding month.
GBP/USD was at 1.4494 from around 1.4470 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7771 from 0.7779 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. London's FTSE 100 rose 1.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 tacked on 2.2%, France's CAC 40 rallied 2%, while Germany's DAX advanced 2%.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
