Investing.com - Net lending to individuals and households in the U.K. rose broadly in line with expectations in February, reflecting improving demand for credit, official data showed on Monday.
In a report, the Bank of England said total net lending to individuals increased by ₤2.5 billion last month, meeting forecasts and up from ₤2.4 billion in January.
Net secured lending rose by ₤1.7 billion in February, above expectations for an increase of ₤1.6 billion, after rising by ₤1.6 billion in January.
Net consumer credit, including personal loans, overdrafts, and credit card lending, increased by ₤740 million, below forecasts for ₤900 million and compared to ₤802 million in January.
Meanwhile, the M4 Money Supply fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in February, in line with expectations and following a decline of 0.7% in January.
The report also showed that the number of final mortgage approvals rose to 61,760 in February from 60,710 in January. Economists had expected mortgage approvals to fall to 61,500 in February.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.4857 from around 1.4853 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7306 from 0.7303 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mostly higher. London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.7%, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.3%, France's CAC 40 jumped 1.2%, while Germany's DAX advanced 1.5%.