The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction purchasing managers’ index fell to 50.6 in January from 52.8 the previous month. “Uncertainty about Brexit has snuffed out the recovery in the construction sector,” said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “But provided a deal is signed off, the construction sector likely will enjoy strong growth soon. May on Sunday said she would be “armed with a fresh mandate and new ideas” when she next meets European Union negotiators over her Brexit deal. Aside from Brexit, markets continued to feast over strong US jobs data published Friday, helping Asian stock markets to gain in thin trade owing to the three-day Lunar New Year break.

Source: The Guardian February 04, 2019 12:56 UTC