TOKYO, Oct. 19 (Kyodo) - By: Kakumi Kobayashi The U.S. dollar was almost unchanged against the yen Friday in directionless Tokyo trading as many players sat on the sidelines. At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at 121.17-20 yen, compared with 121.05-15 yen at 5 p.m. Thursday in New York and 120.93-95 in Tokyo late Thursday. During the day, the dollar moved in an extremely tight range between 121.08 yen and 121.33 yen, changing hands most frequently at 121.20 yen. The euro, meanwhile, traded at $0.9016-9020 and 109.27-31 yen, compared with $0.9035-45 and 109.45-55 yen at 5 p.m. Thursday in New York. "We have seen all day few players taking aggressive positions in the dollar-yen market," said Katsunori Suzuki, foreign exchange manager at Citibank in Tokyo. Since morning, the dollar was stuck at little over 121.00 yen. Dealers said participants were left groping for direction and the number of players was smaller. "Also, players are getting used to the continuing reports of discoveries of anthrax bacteria compared with earlier this week," Suzuki said. Players also showed an almost muted response to Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa's reported remark Friday that Japan is not seeking to weaken the yen but that its levels should reflect fundamentals. Shiokawa has been known to support a weaker yen against the dollar. The trend of the dollar fluctuating narrowly without direction is likely to continue next week, dealers said. "All I can say is that what happens next week depends on developments in the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan and the anthrax cases," said Tatsuro Karitani, global foreign exchange markets and foreign exchange trading manager at the Industrial Bank of Japan. Dealers also dismissed the possibility that the results of the weekend summit meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shanghai would affect foreign exchange markets next week. "Currencies are comparatively stable. Foreign exchange issues are unlikely to be on the agenda at the APEC meeting," said a hedge fund manager in Tokyo.