Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as average house price rose 0.4% in April and NatWest sets aside £140m
It is likely to be a quiet morning on equity markets, as most of the major indices around Europe are closed – and on that note, happy May Day!
But London is still open for trading (and closed on Monday). Futures prices suggest the FTSE 100 is due to dip by 0.3%.
Despite the uncertainty caused by developments in the Middle East and the subsequent rise in energy prices, the UK housing market has continued to regain momentum following the slowdown recorded around the turn of the year.
This is somewhat surprising given that indicators of consumer confidence have weakened noticeably. GfK’s headline index has fallen to its lowest level since late?2023, reflecting households’ more pessimistic views of the economic outlook and their own financial position over the year ahead.
The surprisingly strong rise in the Nationwide measure of house prices in April shows that house prices have continued to gain momentum despite the falls in consumer confidence and the rise in mortgage rates since the start of the Iran war. But the growing upside risks to our mortgage rate forecast from the most recent rise in oil prices suggests this strength is unlikely to last.
We have started the year with positive momentum, underpinned by healthy customer activity – growing all of our three businesses, expanding our capabilities to meet more of our customers’ needs and further improving productivity as we use AI at scale across the bank.
9:30am BST: Bank of England consumer credit (March; previous: £1.9bn; consensus: £1.8bn)
9:30am BST: Bank of England mortgage approvals (March; previous: 62,580; consensus: 60,000)
1:15pm BST: Bank of England – speech by Huw Pill, chief economist
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Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as average house price rose 0.4% in April and NatWest sets aside £140mIt is likely to be a quiet morning on equity markets, as most of the major indi...
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