Pound boosted by UK manufacturing growth - as it happened

The pound has risen above $1.32 for the first time in five weeks after UK manufacturing output rose for the first time in 2017 in July

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• UK manufacturing output rises for first time in 2017
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• UK economy 'treading water' as eurozone gets ahead

2.00pm BST

Before we close up for the day, let's take a look at how European markets are performing. It's a fairly mixed bag:

1.46pm BST

US stock indexes are slightly lower this afternoon, as Florida braces itself for Hurricane Irma.

I encourage EVERYONE in the path of #HurricaneIrma to heed the advice and orders of local & state officials! https://t.co/AQmawTpZs0

1.29pm BST

UK growth picked up to 0.4% in the three months to August, from 0.2% in the three months to July, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

The think-tank publishes its rolling three-month estimate of UK growth every month to coincide with the industrial production figures.

Service sector output as well as industrial production appears to have contributed to the uptick in GDP growth.

Looking ahead into the second half of this year and beyond, we see the economy rebalance towards international trade in response to strengthening global growth and a weaker pound and away from domestic demand. Household spending is likely to be weighed down by weak wage growth and investment spending held back by Brexit-related uncertainty.

1.10pm BST

Meanwhile in Greece, the visiting French President, Emmanuel Macron, has been chairing a meeting of Greek and French entrepreneurs.

12.41pm BST

The pound is up 0.8% against the dollar at $1.3205, helped by July's stronger-than-expected manufacturing output growth.

12.14pm BST

Labour MP Chuka Umunna says the latest trade figures show that Britain's membership of the single market is crucial to Britain.

Brexiteers repeatedly argued that the upside of crashing the pound would be that we would see a major boost in British exports. But there is scant evidence of this, and Britain's trade deficit remains stubbornly high.

It is also increasingly clear that any gains in manufacturing exports will not be not enough to offset the damage being done to other sectors as a result of the government's hard Brexit plans.

11.39am BST

Alan Clarke, economist at Scotiabank, says this morning's UK data suggests the economy got off to a decent start at the beginning of the third quarter. (UK growth was 0.3% in the second quarter.)

Based on today's numbers we are comfortably in the 0.5% ballpark for GDP growth in the third quarter, with wiggle room in both directions.

The monthly services data at the end of the month are likely to be the ultimate swing factor.

11.29am BST

10.54am BST

A third release from the ONS this morning shows that UK construction output fell by 0.9% in July, following a 0.1% fall in June.

It was the fourth consecutive monthly fall, and worse than the 0.2% dip predicted by economists.

Private housebuilding fell 95m in July, compared to June. Up 3.4% on a year earlier, but not helpful for govt's 1m homes by 2020. @ONS pic.twitter.com/3sBIAiJR2s

10.19am BST

UK manufacturing output grew by 0.5% in July, following zero growth in June and beating expectations of a 0.3% increase.

Manufacturing remains relatively subdued since the start of the year, though July showed the first significant monthly growth of 2017, with car production increasing partly thanks to new models rolling off the production lines.

The usual period of summer maintenance of North Sea oil platforms also failed to materialise for a second month running.

9.56am BST

Britain's reliance on trade with the EU is highlighted in the latest set of figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Exports of British-made goods to the EU increased by 1.8bn, or 4.4%, in the three months to July (compared with the previous three months). Exports of crude oil, machinery, and transport equipment were the main drivers.

9.38am BST

Germany's trade surplus narrowed more than expected in July, as growth in imports easily outpaced export growth.

The surplus dipped to a19.5bn from a21.2bn in June, after exports just scraped growth of 0.2%, but imports rose by 2.2%. It was the smallest surplus in six months.

July's data on German trade, as well as French and Spanish industrial production, provide some early hints that eurozone GDP growth might slow at ouch in Q3.But the continued strength of activity surveys suggest that any slowdown will be small.

9.08am BST

Here is Draghi's euro headache in graph form. The euro has been rising against the dollar since the beginning of the year and is climbing further still today.

A stronger euro makes exports from the eurozone more expensive in other countries, and is likely to dampen domestic inflation (because imports are cheaper).

8.52am BST

With the exception of Spain's IBEX, it's red across the board in Europe this morning, although the losses are limited so far.

8.34am BST

Before, we take a look at the equity markets, some UK corporate news.

Related: Daily Mirror publisher in talks to buy Express and Star for 130m

8.10am BST

Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

The cautious tone adopted by Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, at Thursday's policy press conference failed to put off investors who piled into the euro.

Related: ECB paves way to tapering stimulus plan after leaving rates on hold - as it happened