U.K. manufacturing contracted for the sixth consecutive month, but pulled back from the record low reading of 41.0 to hold at 41.5 in October. Despite the unexpected improvement, the growth outlook for Europe’s second largest economy remains bleak as the U.K. slipped into a recession during the second half of the year, and conditions may only get worse as economic activity throughout the global economy deteriorates. Meanwhile, the British pound may face increased selling pressures later this week as the Bank of England is widely expected to lower the benchmark interest rate by 50bp to 4.00%.