Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The pound traded near a 10-week high against the euro amid speculation the European Central Bank may announce bond purchases to halt the sovereign-debt crisis, enhancing the appeal of British assets. Sterling slipped against the dollar. ECB President Jean- Claude Trichet this week signaled investors are underestimating his institution's determination to bolster financial stability. He speaks at a news conference in Frankfurt this afternoon after the central bank announces its rate decision. "It's more of a euro move against the pound because people are expecting something big out of the ECB today," said Geoffrey Yu, a foreign-exchange strategist at UBS AG in London. "It increases the chance that we get outright quantitative easing in the euro zone. If they need to do more, it just shows that there's a bigger problem." The pound traded at 84.21 pence per euro at 8:33 a.m. in London, after touching the strongest since Sept. 20 yesterday. It declined against the dollar, dropping 0.2 percent to $1.5597. All 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the ECB to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 1 percent. U.K. government bonds fell, pushing the 10-year yield up two basis points to 3.38 percent. The two-year note yield rose two basis points to 0.99 percent.

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