TOKYO, April 1 Reuters Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Monday there were some speculative moves in the currency market that did not reflect economic fundamentals, repeating his warning against excessive yen declines.

We will watch currency market developments with a strong sense of urgency, and will respond appropriately against excessive moves without ruling out any options, Suzuki told parliament.

Suzuki said various factors are driving currency moves such as the Bank of Japan39;s decision to end negative interest rates, Japan39;s current account balance, price moves, geopolitical risks, as well as market players39; sentiment and speculative trades.

As for the yen39;s recent declines, we believe there are some speculative moves that do not reflect fundamentals when taking into account domestic and overseas economic as well as price developments, he said.

The yen has been on a downtrend despite the BOJ39;s decision on March 19 to end eight years of negative interest rates, and hit a 34year low against the dollar at 151.975 last week. It was fetching 151.315 per dollar early on Monday.

With the BOJ39;s policy rate still stuck around zero, expectations the gap between U.S. and Japanese interest rates will remain wide are giving traders an excuse to keep selling the yen, analysts say.

Suzuki declined to comment when asked by a lawmaker whether the yen39;s sharp declines after the BOJ39;s exit from negative rates had been within or beyond his…