British factory orders picked up this month after dipping in January, and output is expected to be solid as Britain leaves the European Union, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed on Wednesday. Although the CBI warned that Brexit talks were rapidly approaching “crisis point”, its data painted a more positive picture ahead of Brexit than many recent surveys of the sector. Official data last week showed the sector contracted by the biggest amount in in over five years during the final three month of 2018. The CBI’s factory order book balance rose to +6 this month from January’s reading of -1, ... (full story)