The minutes of the Bank of England’s October meeting, due on Wednesday, are probably the most important data release this week. These should provide some greater clue as to whether policymakers are inclined to follow October’s cut with a further 50bp reduction in November – the market’s current expectation.

Conditions in financial markets have deteriorated worldwide since October’s co-ordinated rate cuts in Europe and North America. There is acknowledgement that the severity of the financial crisis, the worst since the 1920s, will inevitably be followed by economic recession.