Yen weathers Moody's downgrade of Japan only to be buffeted afresh by news that a proposal for the BOJ to buy foreign bonds had been raised at the bank's October 29 meeting. -- One BOJ board member proposed the bank buy 200 bln yen of foreign bonds a month and argued that such regular purchases would not be seen as intervention. -- Market has been awash with speculation in recent weeks that the BOJ might buy offshore bonds as one way to expand liquidity and weaken the yen, so supposedly supporting exports while fighting deflation. -- Dealers note the BOJ board did not adopt the suggestion and in any case, 200 bln yen a month was far too small an amount to drive the yen lower, making some wonder what the point was. -- Dollar steadies at 124.07 yen after dipping as far as 123.99 as investors with long positions took profits in the wake of the Moody's news. -- Euro shade softer at 110.41 yen with dealers subdued by talk of large sell orders above 110.70 yen. -- Euro flat at $0.8901 after Monday's retreat from $0.8950 but finding some support in the $0.8880/90 area.