UK mortgage approvals rise four-fold; stocks edge higher ahead of Fed decision – business live

• Bank of England lending data show housing market gathers pace
• Dollar retreats to two-year low as Fed is expected to maintain ultra-supportive monetary policy to help economy
• Mid-morning summary

3.18pm BST

What can we expect from the Fed later today? Ranko Berich, head of market analysis at foreign exchange firm Monex Europe, says:

Enhanced forward guidance and tweaks to asset purchases will be the two main tools the FOMC are likely to consider ahead of tonight's meeting. The FOMC took a somewhat passive stance in June, discussing the enhancement of forward guidance but not taking the plunge.

Meeting minutes revealed that most participants" were on board with the idea of more explicit forward guidance for the future path of policy, and there were signs that a consensus is beginning to emerge about its nature. Inflation outcomes were supported by a number of participants and are the natural starting point. In our view, enhanced forward guidance is likely at this meeting, with more aggressive measures such as yield curve control likely to be deployed later in the year.

2.55pm BST

Britain's second-biggest pharmaceutical company GSK also reported second-quarter results at lunchtime. The firm, one of the biggest vaccine makers in the world, missed profit forecasts as sales of vaccines declined because fewer people went to the doctor's during the pandemic for fear of catching coronavirus.

Also, people had been stockpiling painkillers and respiratory drugs in the previous quarter, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but this tailed off between April and June.

Lockdowns and a focus on addressing immediate coronavirus needs have kept patients away from doctors surgeries, and that's had repercussions for GSK's vaccines business in particular. We hope vaccines will have been delayed rather than cancelled altogether, in which case revenues should eventually appear.

However, that's less true of consumer health division - which has also struggled. We worry a bit about the consumer business. It's got some good brands, but the tail is long and in recent years the division has lent heavily on a few standout performers - most notably Sensodyne. The recent Pfizer deal provides extra scale, and the vitamins portfolio looks like a strong performer, but we've yet to be convinced the division will be an attractive standalone option when it gets spun-off from GSK in a few years' time.

We don't expect to profit from these vaccines partnerships during the pandemic phase, very specifically because we want to make sure we are investing any short-term returns back into long-term pandemic preparedness and donating to the developing world.