Mortgage Approvals At Six-Month High After..>

UK DATA: Mortgage Approvals At Six-Month High After December Low              

--BOE: UK Jan House Purchase Approvals 67,478 vs 61,692 Dec

--BOE: UK Jan Net Consumer Credit stg1.357bn vs stg1.580bn Dec 

--BOE: UK Jan Net Mortgage Lending stg3.389bn vs stg3.524bn Dec

--BOE: UK Jan M4 Ex-intermediate OFCS +0.5% m/m; +5.5% 3m Annualised         

--BOE: UK Jan Effective Interest Rate On New Secured Loans Down To 1.96%    

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Mortgage approvals rose to the highest level seen since last July in 

January, delivering somewhat of a rebound after December's 

near-three-year low. It was only the second time approvals have 

risen in the past six months. The wider picture, however, is still of a 

stagnant housing market. Secured lending rose by stg3.047bn in January, 

the weakest outturn since last April against the backdrop of higher 

quoted mortgage rates. Consumers used less credit in January too, the 

stg1.357bn change the weakest since July.