The yen eased against the dollar on Wednesday but held most of its overnight gains as the start of a two-day Bank of Japan policy board meeting kept traders speculating over the end of bank's super-easy monetary policy. Although few expect the bank to end the policy at this meeting, traders said investors had been buying the yen on the possibility that BOJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui could make upbeat comments about the economy after the board meeting ends on Thursday. For its part, the dollar could also come under downward pressure before data due on Friday that may show a widening in the U.S. trade deficit, some traders said. "We were expecting the yen to gain towards the end of the week, given that Fukui will speak tomorrow and with the U.S. trade data coming up on Friday," said Hideaki Furumaya, forex manager at Trust and Custody Bank. "It looks like the market is getting a bit of a head-start on these events." Traders also said the yen was encountering some selling in Tokyo amid talk of a New Zealand dollar-denominated uridashi bond issuance on Thursday.