By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The British economy is set to grow for the first time in six months in February, a closely-watched business survey indicated on Tuesday.
The composite purchasing managers index, a rough real-time proxy for economic activity, rose to 53.0 according to preliminary estimates from S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, from 48.5 in January. Analysts had expected it to stay below the 50 level that typically separates growth from contraction.
Both manufacturing and services performed more strongly than expected, with the manufacturing PMI rising to 49.2 from 47.0, and the Services PMI rising to 53.3 from 48.7 in January.
"Survey respondents cited rising customer demand and improving business confidence in February, due to lower economic uncertainty, fewer supply shortages and falling inflation," the survey's authors said.
The pound rose to its highest level in a week on the news. By 04:45 ET (09:45 GMT), it was up 0.3% at $1.2071, reversing earlier losses.