U.K. manufacturing confidence likely to have recovered slightly in August

Manufacturing confidence in the U.K. is likely to have recovered slightly in August. The manufacturing PMI had dropped sharply in July, falling 4.2 points to 48.2, entering contraction territory. However, situation has calmed down since then and better news for the CBI Industrial Trends survey is seen indicating a partial rebound in output projections. Orders were little changed, noted Societe Generale in a research report.

On the contrary to the big decline in the PMI, the less well known Lloyds Bank Business Barometer rebounded sharply from 5 in June to 29 in July, said Societe Generale. The Lloyds result supports what anecdotal data imply. Accordingly, a partial rebound in the PMI to 50.5 is expected, in line with a minor growth in output, added Societe Generale.