IHS Markit: UK business morale approaching decade-low - Reuters

As reported by Reuters, the results of an early Monday IHS Markit poll is showing business confidence within the UK slumping to a 2009 low as Brexit stress continues to take chunks out of firms' outlook.

Key quotes

Plans for hiring and investment across both manufacturing and services firms sagged, according to a quarterly report from data firm IHS Markit, which also compiles the closely watched purchasing managers’ indexes.

The net balance of companies expecting business activity to rise in the next 12 months fell to 32 percent from 39 percent in the previous survey, marking the lowest reading since the IHS Markit Business Outlook Survey started in 2009.

Other business surveys have also shown a sharp slowdown in business investment plans ahead of Brexit in March 2019.