Japanese prime minister warns against drastic moves in yen exchange rate

Drastic fluctuations in the exchange rate of the yen were not desirable and the country's authorities would like to respond to them as they deemed necessary, Japan's Prime Minister said.

Speaking overnight at a conference in London, Shinzo Abe said: "Any drastic fluctuation in exchange rate will have a major impact on trade-related Japanese companies which is not desirable. So we need to carefully watch these movements of the exchange rate and as necessary we would like to respond.”

Abe reportedly declined to comment on the exact level of the Japanese currency, reiterating instead the need to carefully monitor trends.

As of 10:49 BST the dollar/yen was off by 0.30% to 106.94.