SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Kyodo) -- The U.S. dollar plunged to 81.37 yen on Monday in Sydney, a level unseen for around 15 and a half years, after an international meeting of financial and central bank leaders in Washington over the weekend where they called for a stable currency market. The U.S. unit lost ground against the Japanese currency further from 81.72 yen marked in New York on Friday. Anticipation of further credit easing in the United States is pressuring the dollar downward, market observers said. With market participants few on Monday, amid holidays both in Japan and the United States, the dollar stayed volatile in the morning but drew some buying after it plunged to the lower 81 yen level on concern over possible market intervention by the Japanese government, a Singapore-based Japanese commercial bank source said. The dollar staged a comeback to 81.96-97 yen at 1 p.m. in Sydney. It traded at 81.95-81.97 yen in Tokyo at 11 a.m. Monday. Financial leaders reached an agreement on cooperation for stabilizing currency markets at a series of Group of Seven and other international meetings in Washington but an official at a Japanese bank in Sydney said the yen's strengthening tone is unlikely to change in the days ahead.

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