U.K. mortgage approvals for house purchase fall in July, retail sales growth likely to ease in months ahead

The number of U.K. mortgage approvals for house purchase dropped in the month of July after having been on an upward trend since the beginning of the year. On a year-on-year basis, approvals fell 0.6 percent, still a rebound from a fall of 4.6 percent rate seen in June.

However, approvals for remortgaging continued to rise on an annual basis, albeit the rate of 2.8 percent year-on-year was slightly lower compared to the earlier month, possibly underpinned by borrowers trying to secure lower mortgage rates ahead of the Bank Rate rise at the beginning of August.

With retail sector activity reportedly having stayed elevated over the summer months, credit card usage also continued to expand at a strong rate. Credit card spending was up 8.1 percent year-on-year, with credit card borrowing rising over 5 percent year-on-year.

“We expect that retail sales growth will ease over coming months, and, consistent with that, credit card borrowing should moderate too” added Daiwa Capital Market Research.

At 19:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of British Pound was slightly bullish at -57.4286, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -24.8201. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex