TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan is closely monitoring developments in financial markets, including the yen's movements led by speculators with an "even higher" sense of urgency, the top government spokesman said Wednesday, as expectations of a victory by Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race rattled markets.

After the yen slipped to a three-month low, beyond the 154 line to the U.S. dollar, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said currency moves should be stable, reflecting economic fundamentals.

Asked about the government's view on sharp gains in Japanese shares on Wednesday during a regular press conference, Hayashi declined to comment, saying that they should be determined by market forces.

"The government will continue to closely monitor economic and financial market developments with a sense of urgency and do everything it can to manage the economy and fiscal policy in close coordination with the Bank of Japan," Hayashi said.

Japan's 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average surged over 3 percent at one point before ending the day 2.61 percent higher than the day before, lifted by the weaker yen, which boosts the overseas earnings of Japanese exporters.

Some of Trump's policy ideas, including more tax cuts and higher tariffs on imports, are seen as inflationary, potentially boosting the U.S. dollar.

That could exacerbate the inflation pain Japanese households and businesses feel as a weak yen inflates import costs for resource-scarce Japan.

The BOJ is assessing the underlying price trend and the sustainability of pay growth toward next year before going ahead with another interest rate hike. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government plans to draw up a fresh set of measures to ease the negative fallout of inflation.