Japan will respond appropriately to excessive volatility in the foreign exchange market, its top currency diplomat says in a fresh warning against "speculative" and "disorderly" yen moves after market talk of interventions last week.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki stresses the need for foreign exchange rates to move stably by reflecting economic fundamentals, saying that excessive fluctuations should be rectified.
The yen appreciated against the U.S. dollar in New York on May 3, briefly reaching a three-week high in the upper 151 range after the latest labor data suggested a weaker-than-expected situation in nonfarm payrolls.
The yen briefly drops to the 160 level against the U.S. dollar in Singapore trading, setting a new 34-year low in volatile trading amid fears of intervention by Japanese authorities to stem the yen's slide.
Japan is closely watching currency movements and is ready to take all necessary steps, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki says, amid market caution about intervention to slow the yen's fall to 34-year lows against the U.S. dollar.