Investing.com - Net lending to individuals and households in the U.K. rose less than expected in May, reflecting weaker demand for credit, official data showed on Monday.
In a report, the Bank of England said total net lending to individuals increased by ₤3.1 billion last month, below forecasts for ₤3.3 billion and up from ₤2.9 billion in April.
Meanwhile, the M4 Money Supply increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in May, in line with expectations and following a gain of 0.4% in April.
The report also showed that the number of final mortgage approvals fell to 64,430 in May from 67,580 in April. Economists had expected mortgage approvals to rise to 68,700 last month.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5703 from around 1.5701 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7059 from 0.7058 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were down sharply. London’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.5%, the EURO STOXX 50 lost 3.4%, France's CAC 40 tumbled 3.2%, while Germany's DAX sank 3%.