LONDON (AFX) - UK data in the coming week is likely to further highlight the gap between the fast pace of the consumer driven sectors and the depressed state of British manufacturing.
Consumer credit, scheduled for Wednesday, is expected to have grown by 1.7 bln stg in December from 1.524 bln stg the previous month. "Consumer credit has had a firm tone to it recently. Each of the past three months has witnessed a rise in net lending of 1.5-1.6 bln stg," Philip Shaw, economist at Investec said.
Despite the surprise fall in December retail sales data, consumer credit in the same month will likely show that the shopping spree is not over, he added.
In contrast, the manufacturing sector Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's index for January is expected to remain depressed.
December's headline reading was the worst since January 1999, while the output component fell to its lowest in three years. "Official manufacturing output data have shown a more marked decline than the Purchasing Managers Index, so we would expect another weak survey," Ross Walker and Geoffrey Dicks at the Royal Bank of Scotland said.
Although the median forecast is for a small improvement to 45.5 from 45.2 in December, a substantial number of forecasts indicated further contraction.
Economists' forecasts for UK indicators due Jan 28 to Feb 1

AFX CONSENSUS PREVIOUS

WEDNESDAY, JAN 30
Consumer Credit (bln stg) 1.7 1.524

FRIDAY, FEB 1
Manufacturing PMI 45.5 45.2