FTSE 100 Modestly Higher As House Prices Unexpectedly Rise In June
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks were modestly higher on Monday after a Nationwide report indicated that U.K. house prices gained 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in June despite ongoing high interest rates.
Year-on-year, house prices posted a growth of 1.5 percent in June after rising 1.3 percent in May.
Earlier, the property website Rightmove said house prices increased 0.6 percent year-on-year in June, the same rate as seen in May.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England revealed in a report that the number of mortgage approvals in the United Kingdom fell to 60,000 in May from 60,800 in April.
The U.K. manufacturing upturn continued at the end of the second quarter, with PMI finalized at 50.9 in June, slightly down from May's 22-month high of 51.2.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 24 points, or 0.3 percent, at 8,187 after four days of losses.
In corporate news, mining giant Anglo American tumbled nearly 3 percent. The company has suspended production at Grosvenor steelmaking coal mine in Queensland, Australia, following an underground coal gas ignition incident.
Petrofac jumped 4.5 percent. The energy services firm said it has extended the existing forbearance agreement with its noteholders regarding non-payment of interest on senior secured notes from June 30 to July 25, 2024.