Market Updates: Net Lending to Individuals Jumps to 4.8B in UK

The Bank of England just released the figures on net lending to individuals and guess what, the lending has soared to 4.8B vs. 4.3B beforehand. In case you don’t know, the lending figures are correlated with consumer spending and confidence. Rising debt levels are a sign that lenders feel comfortable issuing loans, and that consumers are confident in their financial position and eager to spend money.

As per the report, the annual consumer credit growth decreased to 6.6% in December, indicating the sequence of relatively weak flows of new lending. The net monthly flow in December sank to £0.7 billion, indicating less extra borrowing on credit cards.

The GBP/USD showed a muted response to the release of these figures and it continues to trade below $1.3135. Let’s wait for FOMC and ADP figures from the United States.