020 7898 0500Figures released yesterday showed that UK mortgage approvals were higher than expected in July. There were 65,318 approvals in June which rose to 68,689 in July which was better than the 65,500 forecast. However, consumer credit fell below expectations, as it was up by £1.179 billion against an expectation of a £1.5 billion increase.
As it stands, total debt relative to household incomes is still lower than it was at the beginning of the financial crisis, but is creeping up. Definitely something to pay attention to in the near future.
Sterling also managed to hold steady against the US dollar and euro, making very slight gains against both. This is more positive than it might ordinarily be given the Brexit-induced weakness of the day before. However, further stalling in negotiations could see the pound weakening further.
Later today we have UK consumer confidence figures and on Friday all eyes will be on the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index numbers.
