Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Wednesday declined to comment on whether or not Japan will intervene in currency markets and on the timing of any such possible action.

I decline to comment on whether we will intervene or not and on the timing, Noda said in a parliamentary committee meeting, after a lawmaker asked why authorities had not stepped into markets to halt the yen's rise.

(Reporting by Rie Ishiguro; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Japan