The yen briefly sank to the lower 158 range against the U.S. dollar on Friday in Tokyo after the Bank of Japan said it will reduce its purchases of government bonds without specifying the size of the cuts.

The Japanese currency, trading in the lower 157 range versus the dollar in the morning, dropped to around 158.10 after the BOJ announcement.

==Kyodo

© Kyodo News International, Inc., source Newswire