SINGAPORE, June 14 Reuters The yen fell to an over onemonth low on Friday after the Bank of Japan BOJ stood pat on rates and said it would trim bond buying in the future, while the euro, mired in political turmoil, was headed for a weekly loss.

Defying market expectations, the BOJ said at the conclusion of its twoday policy meeting it would continue to buy government bonds at the current pace and would only lay out details of its tapering plan for the next one to two years at its July policy meeting.

Markets had expected the central bank to announce a reduction of its massive bond purchases this month, following various media reports in the lead up to Friday39;s decision.

The yen slumped roughly 0.6 to 157.99 per dollar , its weakest in more than a month.

It is a surprise that no decision was made on the reduction of bond purchases this time, said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief FX strategist at SMBC.

At the next meeting, the BOJ said it would decide on a specific plan for the next one to two years. Therefore, it is considered that the result was somewhat dovish.

Other currencies also extended gains against the Japanese currency, with sterling scaling a 16year high of 201.45 yen . The euro was last up 0.57 at 169.56 yen.

In the broader market, the dollar was on the front foot, helped by gains against the euro and safehaven bids as France39;s snap vote call stoked fears of political uncertainty in the country and the wider euro zone bloc.

Sterling edged 0.1 lower to…