On Thursday the US dollar tumbled versus the Japanese yen ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting, scheduled for Friday. The regulator is expected to boost the volume of its assets purchase program for the second time this year.


The dollar rate plunged to 80.94 from 81.45 basis points hit on Wednesday.


The yen was knocked down just once - on February 14 - when the Bank of Japan announced further expansion of its asset purchase program. On Thursday the Japanese government bond yield declined to its low for several weeks, which reduced the investor appetite for the US dollar.


Moreover, the euro grew against its American counterpart; it rose to the level of 1dollar 3243 cents from its Wednesday rate of 1 dollar .3220 cents.


The US dollar weakened primarily due to a decrease in the Eurozone economic confidence. In April the index dropped to 92.8 pips from 94.5 pips registered in March.


The American currency started drifting on Wednesday - shortly after the Fed kept its interest rate unchanged -- and Ben Bernanke said he was ready to buy as much debt as the economy needs.


On Thursday the US dollar was squeezed by just a tiny fall in the number of initial jobless claims.