The pound rose against the dollar for a second day before the publication of the minutes of the Bank of England’s May 5 policy meeting. The British currency was little changed against the euro. The nine-member monetary policy committee voted to hold rates at a record-low 0.5 percent earlier this month. Jobless benefit claims were likely unchanged in March, according to the median prediction of 24 economists in a Bloomberg survey before the data is released at 9:30 a.m. in London. The pound strengthened 0.2 percent to $1.6281 as of 7:13 a.m. in London. It traded at 87.66 pence per euro from 87.60 pence yesterday in New York, and at 132.16 yen from 132.32. The Bank of England’s minutes will also be released at 9:30 a.m. in London. Policy makers voted 6-3 to keep interest rates on hold last month as the majority said that data on the economy during the previous month had “probably been to the downside.” Andrew Sentance maintained his call for an increase in the benchmark interest rate to 1 percent, while Martin Weale and Spencer Dale wanted a move to 0.75 percent. U.K. consumer prices rose 4.5 percent last month from a year earlier, data showed yesterday, beating a median forecast of 4.1 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.netQ

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