Best to avoid fx intervention: Japan DPJ lawmaker

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese authorities should avoid intervening in foreign exchange markets as currency levels will reflect economic fundamentals in the long run, a lawmaker from Japan's new ruling party said on Wednesday.

The Democratic Party of Japan won a sweeping victory in a lower house election on Sunday, ousting the conservative Liberal Democratic Party after more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule.

Tsutomu Okubo, a spokesman on the Democrat's financial policies, also said it is in Japan's interests to support the dollar's status as the world's key currency, as a large part of Japanese companies' international transactions are settled in the greenback.

"Whether the yen rises or falls, basically it is best for the government not to intervene. There's a limit to what intervention can do," Okubo said in an interview with Reuters.

The party will take power later this month when parliament formally appoints DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama as prime minister.

(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano)