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 U.S. dollar is weak in the upper 155 yen zone in Tokyo after the chief of the U.S. Federal Reserve said it is unlikely to raise interest rates, while another suspected yen-buying intervention by Japan also pushed the yen higher.
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.