Investing.com - The pound was almost unchanged against the dollar on Monday after data showed that U.K. mortgage approvals fell in February while business lending also declined.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.6638, and was moving in a range of 1.6620 and 1.6656.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6597, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.6700.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England said that U.K. mortgage approvals fell to 70,309 in February, the lowest level since October 2013. Market expectations had been for a slight decline to 75,000 from January’s more than six-year high of 76,753.
The BoE also said business lending was down ₤750 million compared with the previous month.
Net lending rose by ₤2.3 billion last month, in line with forecasts, up from ₤2.1 billion in January.
Elsewhere, sterling fell to session lows against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.32% to 0.8290.
The single currency found support after data showing that the annual rate of inflation in the euro zone fell to the lowest level since November 2009 in March fuelled expectations for further easing measures by the European Central Bank.
The annual rate of consumer inflation in the euro area slowed to 0.5% this month from 0.7% in February, undershooting expectations for a reading of 0.6%. The ECB targets an inflation rate of just under 2%.
The report showed that core inflation rose 0.8% in March, in line with forecasts, but down from 1.0% in February.
The weak data fuelled expectations that the ECB could take steps to bolster the fragile recovery in the euro area at its upcoming policy meeting on Thursday. Last month the central bank left rates on hold, but indicated that it was prepared to take decisive action if the inflation outlook continued to deteriorate.