Japan's top currency diplomat renews volatility warning as yen nears key 160 level

TOKYO, Nov 12 : Japan's top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura on Thursday renewed his warning against excessive foreign exchange volatility, citing this summer's intervention as the yen again edged towards the key 160-per-dollar level.

"I won't comment on the current exchange-rate level, but I believe recent currency moves have been excessively rapid," Mimura, the vice finance minister for international affairs, told reporters.

"It's still too early to forget what happened this summer," he added, in an apparent reference to Japan's yen-buying interventions in late July through early August, including one conducted jointly with the US.

The dollar rose to 159.94 against the Japanese yen early Thursday morning, hitting its strongest in over two months, buoyed by growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates after hot US inflation data and hawkish remarks from policymakers.