Yahoo Finance US stocks up as FTSE closes higher amid unexpected UK mortgage approval rates
A look at how the major markets are performing on Monday
Stock indexes across Europe finished the day in the green on Monday in London, as the market parsed positive inflation readings in the bloc and higher than expected mortgage approval rates among Britons.
Fresh Bank of England data showed net mortgage approvals for house purchases up from 51,100 in May to 54,700 in June, while approvals for remortgaging rose from 34,100 to 39,100 during the same period.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up 0.3% by the close in London, having fallen earlier in the session. Meanwhile the DAX (^GDAXI) was up 0.1% and the CAC (^FCHI) was up 0.5%.
European markets were buoyed by a positive read on inflation. The bloc's consumer price index reading for June matched expectations, falling from 5.5% to 5.3%.
US stocks were also modestly up by closing time in Europe. The S&P 500 (^GSPC), the Dow (^DJI) and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) all rose by around 0.1%.
Meanwhile, an announcement is due to be made by UK prime minister Rishi Sunak on the future of Britain's North Sea drilling operations.
Sunak is set to lay out an expansion of carbon capture and storage as well as oil and gas drilling plans for the North Sea. These, the government says, are a bid to help Britain move towards net-zero by 2050.
The announcement will contain details of two new CSS clusters to be developed in the north-east of Scotland and the Humber — sites which could support up to 50,000 jobs.
The plans have drawn protests from climate change groups who argue that new oil and gas drilling is a distraction from actual solutions to reducing emissions.
Read more: British Gas owner reveals its profits have soared more than 900%
Watch for updates throughout the day on our live blog here:
Watch: Plan to expand North Sea oil drilling announced
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