The pound got a modest lift after news that the manufacturing sector performed much-stronger-than expected in September. The closely watched Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's index of manufacturing beat expectations to rise by 54.4 from a downwardly revised 53.0 the previous month. Analysts polled by AFX News had been anticipating a modest decline to 52.8. The Bank of England decides on interest rates this Thursday but no change is predicted. Most analysts expect the rate setting committee to hold off until November to coincide with the central bank's next round of predictions for growth and inflation. "We continue to expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.0 pct in November, but a move this Thursday cannot be completely ruled out," said Howard Archer at Global Insight. The case for a November hike will strengthen if the service sector PMI also comes in strong. "This better than expected result for the manufacturing sector will give a further push to the sell-off in interest rate futures, and will help build the case for a November hike again, particularly if the services sector PMI were to post a similar surprise later in the week," said Daragh Maher at CALYON.