By Paul Dobson Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The pound rose against the dollar for a fourth day after a report showed U.K. mortgage approvals increased more than forecast last month. The gain kept sterling on course for its first monthly advance against the U.S. currency since July. It’s poised to snap three consecutive months of declines versus the euro. Optimism about the strength of an economic recovery grew after the Bank of England said today that lenders granted 56,215 home loans in September compared with 52,970 in August. That was more than the 53,600 median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, and the highest level for 18 months. “What the market wants to see is some broad-based improvement,” said Henrik Gullberg, a strategist in London at Deutsche Bank AG, the world’s biggest currency trader, before the data was released. “There is an underlying improvement going on and the market wants confirmation of that.” The British currency advanced 0.5 percent to $1.6457 as of 10:37 a.m. in London, and strengthened 0.2 percent to 89.65 pence per euro. In the bond market, the yield on the two-year gilt rose 2 basis points to 0.84 percent.

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