U.K. manufacturing data a welcome surprise.

The British manufacturing sector is perhaps healthier than expected, as April's Markit/CIPS PMI prints barely in contraction territory at 49.8. The reading, which beat economists' expectations of a 48.5 print, was an improvement from March's data and suggests the sector may not weigh too badly on British Q2 GDP growth. The report was bolstered by new export orders which ticked up for the first time in at least a year. Manufacturing accounts for more than 10% of the U.K. economy.