Japan's PM Naoto Kan says unaware of new market intervention

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Friday he was unaware of any new market intervention by Tokyo after there was a sudden slide in the yen against the dollar.  

Kan told a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that a previous intervention was motivated by the principle that excessive currency movements were bad for the economy. 

"I haven''t heard that there was yet another intervention in the market," he said. "The recent currency intervention by Japan was conducted ... for the purpose of restraining excessive fluctuation in exchange rates."

A sudden slide in the yen against the dollar on Friday stirred suspicions Japanese authorities intervened for a second time this month to try to prevent the currency''s strength from worsening a faltering recovery.

Kan, just re-elected as leader of the ruling party, faces a divided parliament so is keen to curb the strength in the yen, which has hurt Japan's stock market and sparked the ire of exporters.