TOKYO Japan's top government spokesperson said on Thursday that volatile moves in the currency markets were undesirable and that authorities were closely watching the market and ready to take "appropriate" action as needed.

"It is important for foreign exchange markets to move in a stable manner reflecting fundamentals, and excessive changes are undesirable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference.

"There is no change to the government's stance that we will closely monitor movements in the currency market and take appropriate steps if necessary."

Matsuno made the comment as the dollar rallied in Asian trading, pushing the yen down 0.46% to 140.735 after the Federal Reserve signalled rate hikes later in the year.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)