Yen Gains Sharply Versus Dollar, Highlighting a Market on Edge

The yen advanced sharply versus the dollar on Friday, capping a week of high volatility in Japan’s financial markets.

The currency gained as much as 0.7% to 157.37 shortly after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda ended his post-policy decision press conference, and as the weight of the trading day shifted from Asia to Europe. The yen had earlier weakened as much as 0.5% to 159.23 against the dollar.