NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Currency trading volume surged yesterday as the British pound soared, the euro and yen tumbled and the Chinese yuan climbed above the Hong Kong dollar for the first time in 13 years.State Street Corp.’s gauge of foreign-exchange trading exceeded last year’s daily average by about 60 percent yesterday, said Brian Garvey, senior currency strategist in Boston at the bank, which is custodian for $11.3 trillion of investor assets. He didn’t provide a specific volume amount.

“We had a lot of surprises today,” said Garvey. “There is a lot of disagreement” on the outlook for central bank policies, he said, adding that “such high volume will persist.”

The pound surged after the Bank of England unexpectedly raised interest rates to a five-year high. The dollar climbed above 120 yen for the first time since 2005 as investors trimmed bets on a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The euro sank after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signalled the bank will wait until March to lift rates again.

Foreign-exchange trading typically totals about $1.9 trillion each day, according to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

The pound rose 0.7 percent to $1.9452 at 5:26 p.m. New York time and is about 5.5 cents shy of the $2 milestone, which it last touched in 1992. The dollar climbed to 120.41 yen, exceeding 120 yen for the first time since December 2005.

The euro fell to $1.2883, the lowest since November 22, and to 66.26 pence, its weakest since June 2005.

“There is lots of blood in the street,” said Firas Askari, head currency trader at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “Today was a classic example of intraday volatility led off by the Bank of England. I am sure many short term traders would have been hurt.”

Trading today was at least 25 percent above normal, said Jonathan Gencher, vice president of currency sales at BMO in Toronto.