The dollar strengthened against the euro and the yen Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Dragh hinted that the central bank is ready to increase stimulus measures if economic conditions deteriorate. Draghi acknowledged the potential impact of a weaker yuan and an economic slowdown in China on the eurozone's economy and suggested that, while the ECB wouldn't take any immediate action to expand stimulus measures, policy makers were ready to do so. Though they expect that the impact on prices will be short-lived. In recent trade, the euro EURUSD, -0.9620% was down 0.9% on the day to $1.1118. The dollar USDJPY, -0.03% was up 0.4% to 120.17 yen. The dollar also benefited from a strong reading on weekly jobless claims. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits rose last week to its highest level in two months. But the numbers were still at very low levels for August, typically a slow month for job creation.
