On Wednesday the pound sterling rose to session highs against a weaker dollar after the release of fresh U.K. economic data which indicated that U.K. industrial output beat economists' expectations in April, but manufacturing output declined.
Industrial output climbed by
0.4%, beating expectations for a 0.1% increase, following an upwardly
revised increase of 0.6% in March, the Office for National Statistics said.
The data added to hopes that the economy is picking up in the current quarter after poorly performing in the first quarter.
The report also showed that manufacturing production dropped 0.4%, reversing the previous month’s gains. The decline was mainly caused by a 6% fall in pharmaceuticals output.
Cable hit intraday peak of 1.5471, the most since May 26, before settling at 1.5461 adding 0.49%.
The euro erased gains to trade at 73.35 pence. EUR/GBP traded at 73.41 before the data was released.
Quickly after the data, British government bond futures declined, while the stock market showed little reaction.
