British mortgage approvals defied a negative post-Brexit environment in September, rising to their highest level since June.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 62,932 in September from 60,984 in August, according to Bank of England data released on Monday.

The figures easily beat the 60,150 forecast by analysts and will alleviate concern that the housing market has entered a prolonged period of negativity in the wake of the European referendum result. Mortgage approvals hit a 19-month low in August, and are still 15 percent down on this time last year.

Markets cautious ahead of US election

Asian markets had a shaky start to the week on Monday on the back of the latest hit to the Clinton election campaign.

News that the FBI has reopened the case surrounding Hillary Clinton’s private email server just over a week before the election sent investors into a spin, pushing Asian markets down.

The Shanghai Composite and the Nikkei 225 closed down 0.12 percent, with the Hang Seng down 0.09 percent.

The FTSE 100 followed suit, currently trading down 0.31 percent at 6974.94.

31/10/2016