The Bank of Japan on Monday offered to buy a smaller amount of Japanese government bonds in a regular operation, sending yields higher in a move that some market participants saw as the central bank’s latest effort to counter yen weakness. The BOJ trimmed the purchase amount of bonds with five to 10 years left to maturity to 425 billion yen ($2.7 billion) from the previous 475 billion yen on April 24. The benchmark yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond subsequently rose to a six-month high of 0.935 percent at one point. The reduction was the first since the BOJ ended in March its negat…