LONDON, Dec 8 Reuters The pound closed in on its largest weekly fall against the yen in a year on Friday, driven by a strong cash flow into the Japanese currency after authorities in Tokyo hinted at a longawaited change in monetary policy.

Sterling is also heading for its worst weekly performance against the dollar in a month, but was firm against the euro.

Trading this week has been dominated by rate expectations, with those concerning the outlook for interest in Japan providing the strongest catalyst. The yen has risen across the board, particularly against higheryielding currencies such as the pound and the New Zealand dollar.

The next risk event for markets will be the monthly U.S. employment report later on Friday, which is expected to show 180,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls in November.

Sterling was last down 0.3 on the day at 1.2564. Against the yen, sterling was up 0.3 at 181.15 , after a fall of nearly 3 on Thursday. The pound is set for a weekly decline of 2.8 against the yen, its largest fall in a year.

The Bank of England is among the major central banks that meet next week to discuss monetary policy. Traders do not expect the Bank to make any changes to interest rates, leaving the focus on what policymakers think about the outlook for growth and inflation and what that might suggest about the timing of the first cut.

Futures markets are priced to show the first cut could materialise in June, compared with March for the European Central Bank…