Investing.com - Mortgage approvals in the U.K. rose to a five-month high in February, easing concerns over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the British Banker's Association said that the number of new mortgages approved increased to 37,300 last month from January’s total of 36,400. Analysts had expected the number of new mortgages approved to rise to 36,900 in February.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.4883 from around 1.4880 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7367 from 0.7364 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mostly lower. London’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.3%, France's CAC 40 declined 0.4%, while Germany's DAX slumped 0.15%.