Mubasher: Producer price index (PPI) for the goods leaving UK factories rose at a slower rate of 1.6% in the year ended August, from 1.9% compared with the year to July, official figures showed on Wednesday.

Prices for materials and fuels used in the manufacturing process dropped by 0.8% in the year to last August, after recording a growth of 0.9% during the prior, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The biggest upward contribution to the annual rate of output inflation came from transport equipment price surges.

For the annual input inflation, crude oil costs were the top gainer during the reported period, the ONS said.

By 8:48 am GMT, the GBP/USD pair dropped by 0.43% to $1.2446, as the EUR/GBP pair rose by 0.19% to GBP 0.8875.