Investing.com - Mortgage approvals in the U.K. rose to a six-month high in March, easing concerns over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the British Banker's Association said that the number of new mortgages approved increased to 38,800 last month from February’s total of 37,500. Analysts had expected the number of new mortgages approved to rise to 37,900 in March.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5187 from around 1.5221 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7158 from 0.7138 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.95%, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.55%, France's CAC 40 declined 0.85%, while Germany's DAX slumped 0.6%.