Yen soars as BOJ's Kuroda plays down helicopter money talk

Kuroda also told BBC Radio 4 in an interview there was no significant limitation on Japan's ability to further ease monetary policy if necessary.

But with currency investors betting on an aggressive round of stimulus by Tokyo starting at next week's Bank of Japan meeting, his cooling of talk of more direct targeting of cash injections to consumers and businesses drove the yen higher.

Down on the day before Kuroda's comments, the yen surged to as strong as 105.85 yen per dollar, almost 1 percent up on the day. It was also 0.8 percent higher against the euro at 116.78 yen.

"It has really shifted just now, all on that one line from Kuroda," said a dealer with an international bank in London.

(Reporting by Patrick Graham; editing by Nigel Stephenson)