Japan's top government spokesman said Monday that the government's currency market intervention earlier in the morning was intended to prevent a downturn in Japan's economy due to the yen's dramatic rise against the dollar. "The recent one-sided rise in the yen could threaten a downturn in the Japanese economy, which is finally seeing a recovery from the disaster (in March)," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said at a press conference. "The government intervened to make sure speculative, unruly market movements will not become a downturn risk," he said. In response to a question about whether he thought ... (full story)