(RTTNews) - The euro was choppy versus other majors Wednesday in New York on the eve of the European Central Bank's interest rate decision. A sharp decline in Eurozone service sector activity cemented expectation that the ECB will cut rates by at least 50 basis points to 2.75%.

The euro moved lower amid choppy trading with the U.S. dollar, exchanging at 1.2666 in the late morning. The European currency fell as low as 1.2600, approaching a near-term low of 1.2561 earlier in the week. The euro hit a two-year low of 1.2328 in October.

The European currency climbed to as high as 0.8607 against the British pound. With the rally, the euro approached the record 0.8662 it reached last month.

The euro traded slightly lower against the yen, moving to 118.15 in the mid-day. The European currency fell as low as 116.89 earlier in the morning, approaching a two-week low of 116.54 from yesterday.

On the economic front, the purchasing managers' index for the Eurozone service sector fell to 42.5 in November from 45.8 in October. Economists had expected the reading to match the flash estimate of 43.3.

Further, the composite index dropped to 38.9 from 43.6, while the consensus forecast was to meet the preliminary estimated reading of 39.7.

Wednesday, the Eurostat announced that Eurozone retail sales fell 0.8% month-on-month in October, after remaining unchanged in September. Initially, a 0.2% decline was reported for September. Economists were looking for a 0.4% decrease for October.

Year-on-year, retail sales dropped 2.1% in October compared with a 1.4% slump in September, revised from 1.6%. Economist had forecast a decline of 1.4% for October.

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