"The principal take out from September's PMI survey is that underlying construction weakness is likely to continue for the remainder of 2012"
- Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit
U.K. construction activity improved slightly in September, but still remains negative, the market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said on Tuesday. A construction index rose to 49.5 last month, up from 49 in August, while analysts had expected nation's construction PMI to rise by 0.8 points to 49.8 in September.
"The principal take out from September's PMI survey is that underlying construction weakness is likely to continue for the remainder of 2012," said Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit.
"The current stretch of falling new orders is now the longest seen for three years ... (and) a lack of new projects meant that confidence ... remains close to its lowest since the UK economy nosedived into recession during 2008," he added.
The FTSE 100 Index lost 0.19 per cent to 5,809.45. The broader FTSE All-Share Index eased 0.12 per cent to 3,034.58.
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