The euro advanced against most of its 16 major counterparts tracked by Bloomberg amid speculation European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will signal further rate increases at a press conference today. The 17-member common currency snapped two days of declines versus the dollar before the ECB announces its interest-rate decision at 1:45 p.m. in Frankfurt. All 55 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the central bank to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent to contain price pressures even as Greece threatens to become the euro area’s first sovereign default. Consumer-price inflation rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier in June. The euro appreciated 0.2 percent to $1.4343 as of 7:57 a.m. in London. It also advanced 0.2 percent to 116.07 yen and added 0.3 percent to 89.75 pence. To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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