The yen softened slightly against the dollar on Tuesday after Japan's top finance diplomat Masato Kanda said authorities were closely watching foreign exchange market moves, would "respond appropriately", but were not focussing on particular levels.

The dollar was last up 0.12% on the day at 140.61 yen , having traded slightly lower immediately before Kanda's remarks.

Kanda was speaking after a meeting involving top officials from the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Japan and the financial watchdog.

The dollar had hit a six-month high at 140.93 before the meeting was convened.

(Reporting by Alun John, editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)