• Manufacturing activity in UK weakens sharply in October.
• GBP/USD trades in the negative territory around 1.3800.

According to the latest manufacturing trend survey of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Manufacturing Order Book Balance dropped to 9 in October, the lowest level since April, from 22 in September. This reading missed the market expectation of 18 by a wide margin.

Further details of publication revealed that the Manufacturing Price Expectations Balance jumped to its highest level since 1980 at 59. The Manufacturing Export Orders Balance declined to -7 from -2 and the Manufacturing Business Optimism Balance worsened to 2 from 27 in July. 

Market reaction

The GBP/USD pair remains on the back foot after this report and was last seen losing 0.2% on the day at 1.3795. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 Index is down 0.37% at 7,196.