The pound traded within a cent of its highest level in more than two weeks against the dollar on bets the Bank of England will judge the economic recovery strong enough for policy makers to avoid boosting bond purchases. Sterling rose to its highest level since Nov. 23 versus its U.S. counterpart. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and his colleagues in the Monetary Policy Committee will likely keep the so-called quantitative-easing program unchanged at 200 billion pounds ($316 billion) today, according to all 34 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Economists also forecast that the bank will hold the main interest rate at 0.5 percent, another poll showed. “The pound has held up fairly well, and I don’t see anything that’s going to change that,” said Kathleen Brooks, London-based research director at FOREX.com, a unit of online currency trading company Gain Capital. “Growth is holding up well, and that’s putting QE at the back of the shelf.” The pound was little changed at $1.5803 at 8:45 a.m. in London, after earlier advancing by as much as 0.2 percent. It declined 0.2 percent against the euro to 84.07 pence. Government bonds advanced, with the 10-year yield falling two basis points to 3.53 percent, while that on the two-year security also declined by two basis points, to 1.10 percent. Britain’s currency gained 1.2 percent versus the dollar after the bank’s previous policy meeting on Nov. 4, when it decided to keep rates on hold. Gilts rose that day, pushing the 10-year yield down by five basis points. To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in London at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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