The euro approached a seven-week high against the dollar on speculation European Central Bank officials will today signal they will keep interest rates on hold, maintaining the allure of assets in the 16-nation region. Europe’s single currency also strengthened after a Chinese government report showed urban fixed-asset investment rose at the fastest pace in more than two years. The yen traded near the highest in more than a week against the dollar after General Motors Corp. said yesterday it’s more probable than previously thought that the largest U.S. automaker will need to file for bankruptcy court protection. “The ECB’s monetary easing measures may not be as aggressive as those of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan,” said Masanobu Ishikawa, general manager of foreign exchange at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow Ltd., Japan’s largest currency broker. “This will likely be supportive of the euro.” The euro climbed to $1.3615 as of 6:44 a.m. in London from $1.3582 in New York yesterday, when it reached $1.3668, the highest level since March 24. The currency was at 132.49 yen from 132.40 yen, after earlier falling as low as 131.77 yen. The yen bought 97.30 per dollar from 97.48, after touching 97.14, the strongest since April 29. Urban fixed-asset investment in China climbed 30.5 percent in the first four months from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Beijing today. The gain was the most since July 2006 and compared with the 29.1 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

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