The yen strengthened by the most in nearly a year as traders ramp up bets that the Bank of Japan will scrap the world’s last negative interest-rate regime as soon as this month. The yen briefly jumped almost 4% to trade at 141.71 per dollar in early afternoon in New York on Thursday. It touched the strongest level since Aug. 7 before paring gains. Earlier, comments from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and one of his deputies jolted financial markets in Tokyo and globally, pushing the yen to appreciate sharply. The yen gained against all of its peers in the Group of 10. “The odds of tightening administered rates on Dec. 19 ... (full story)