The pound snapped a two-day advance against the dollar before the Bank of England announces an interest-rate decision. The British currency weakened for a second day versus the euro. Central bank policy makers will keep the benchmark rate unchanged at a record low 0.5 percent, according to all 55 economists in a Bloomberg survey. A separate survey shows the Bank of England will keep its bond-purchase program, known as quantitative easing, on hold at 200 billion pounds ($327 billion). The pound was fell 0.4 percent to $1.6361 as of 7:19 a.m. in London. Sterling reached $1.6476 on Aug. 1, the most since June 1. Sterling was 0.2 percent weaker at 87.38 pence per euro. It reached 86.95 pence yesterday, the strongest since May 31. The pound strengthened against the dollar yesterday as a report showed U.K. services growth unexpectedly accelerated. A gauge based on a survey of services companies rose to 55.4 from 53.9 in June, Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply said. That compared with a median forecast of 27 economists in a Bloomberg News survey of a decline to 53.2. Sterling has fallen 8.2 percent in the last 12 months, making it the second-worst performer among 10 developed-market currencies after the U.S. dollar, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. To contact the reporter on this story: Keith Jenkins in London at Kjenkins3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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