Donald Trump slams Mario Draghi's rate cut plans - as it happened

The US President says Draghi's plans will weaken the euro putting the US at a competitive disadvantage

• Markets jump as ECB's Draghi signals more eurozone rate cuts
• Facebook launches cryptocurrency in bid to shake up global finance
• What is Libra? All you need to know about Facebook's currency
• Heathrow third runway expansion plans revealed
• European car sales rise for first time in nine months

3.04pm BST

Mario Draghi made a market-moving speech this morning, signalling the European Central Bank is ready to cut eurozone rates and start buying bonds again. Markets are now pricing in further stimulus.

Here are the key quotes from his speech at the ECB's forum on central banking in Sintra, Portugal:

Further cuts in policy interest rates and mitigating measures to contain any side effects remain part of our tools. And the APP (asset purchase program) still has considerable headroom.

If the crisis has shown anything, it is that we will use all the flexibility within our mandate to fulfil our mandate - and we will do so again to answer any challenges to price stability in the future.

Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA. They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others.

Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA. They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others.

2.33pm BST

The opening bell has rung on Wall Street and US markets are up:

2.16pm BST

Here in the UK, the once star stock-picker Neil Woodford is under renewed pressure after Fidelity banned its customers from putting new money into a second Woodford fund.

Read the full story here:

Related: Fidelity blocks investors from buying Woodford Income Focus Fund

2.03pm BST

Over in the US, house building slowed in May.

Figures from the Commerce Department showed housing starts fell 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.269 million homes, amid a drop in the construction of single family housing units.

1.49pm BST

Markets have received Mario Draghi's message loud and clear and are now pricing in more stimulus. This is putting a spring in the step of investors across Europe:

1.36pm BST

Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, says Mario Draghi was keen to hammer home his message to investors that rate cuts and/or more bond purchases are coming when he spoke earlier in Sintra:

Mr Draghi's speech at the ECB's conference this morning is the clearest indication yet that the Bank will cut interest rates and relaunch its asset purchase programme in the coming months if, as we expect, measures of inflation and inflation expectations remain very low.

The media reported that ECB policymakers were "frustrated" that investors did not respond to Mr Draghi's dovish press conference earlier in the month. So he evidently decided to set out the Bank's plans in words of one syllable today, and this time investors have taken the hint: the euro and Bund yields fell sharply in response.

1.31pm BST

Eurozone inflation fell to 1.2% in May from 1.7% in April, final figures from the Eurostat statistics agency showed.

It was the lowest rate in more than a year, and served to strengthen expectations that the European Central Bank will soon inject fresh stimulus into the single currency bloc's economy.

1.18pm BST

The US President's comments come a day ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision.

Trump has repeatedly made it clear that he would like to see the Fed cut rates, saying the US economy had the potential to "go up like a rocket" if borrowing costs were lowered.

The Fed will give its policy verdict on Wednesday and is expected to maintain its policy unchanged. However, markets are obsessed with the Fed's next move, since the Fed Governor Jerome Powell said that they are ready to cut the interest rates, if needed. The Fed expectations sharply moved from 'patient' to two-to-three rate cuts within the next twelve months.

Now it is time to see whether Powell meant such a drastic policy shift. One thing is clear, the market is positioned for a dovish Fed. The question is, will the Fed sound as dovish as expected by the market?

12.43pm BST

Trump adds:

European Markets rose on comments (unfair to U.S.) made today by Mario D!

12.09pm BST

Donald Trump is not happy about Mario Draghi's suggestion that the ECB will cut eurozone rates. Specifically, he says the resulting drop in the euro puts the US at a disadvantage:

Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA. They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others.

11.45am BST

Investors in the euro area priced in a rate cut by the ECB after President Mario Draghi said that the region's economy may need additional stimulus https://t.co/LGY8Tmg8AS

11.44am BST

Bart Hordijk, a currency analyst at Monex Europe, says that markets are now firmly expecting a rate cut after Mario Draghi's comments this morning in Sintra:

The rate cutting genie is out of the bottle for the European Central Bank after Mario Draghi this morning mentioned that further cuts in the policy rate remain part of ECB's toolkit.

A full ECB rate cut is now priced in by futures markets for 2019 after Draghi showed his concerns about the persistently low inflation in the eurozone and the lingering risks to growth.

11.10am BST

The euro has fallen after Mario Draghi signalled that the European Central Bank is ready to pump fresh stimulus into the eurozone economy, with more rate cuts and/or bond purchases.

The euro is down 0.3% against the dollar at $1.185, and down 0.2% against the pound at 89.28p.

10.39am BST

The whitepaper on Libra says it will be built on the foundation of blockchain technology, and outlines just how ambitious the plans are:

People will be able to send, receive, spend, and secure their money, enabling a more inclusive global financial system.

The aim is to make Libra as widely accepted and as easy to use as possible to create a currency that people can use with confidence and convenience in their everyday lives.

10.21am BST

When Libra is launched, users will be able to download Calibra, a digital wallet that will be available in Messenger, WhatsApp, and as a standalone app.

Here is our Q&A on what we can expect from Facebook's ambitious move into cryptocurrencies:

Related: What is Libra? All you need to know about Facebook's new cryptocurrency

10.09am BST

Here is our full story on Facebook's Libra launch:

Related: Libra: Facebook launches cryptocurrency in bid to shake up global finance

10.07am BST

Breaking: Facebook has announced plans to launch its own cryptocurrency in 2020.

The currency will be named Libra and will allow the social media site's billions of users to make financial transactions around the world.

9.54am BST

European markets are making notable gains - reversing earlier falls - after Mario Draghi hinted that more interest rate cuts and bond purchases could be on the horizon.

Neil Wilson, analyst at markets.com, says the central bank governor is now in "full dove mode".

The towel has been thrown in. Building on the last ECB meeting, at which some members discussed reopening quantitative easing, this looks like a clear signal that the central bank is preparing markets to expect monetary policy to become more accommodative this year.

9.45am BST

Mario Draghi has raised expectations that the European Central Bank will pump more stimulus into the eurozone economy.

Speaking in Sintra at the ECB's forum on central banking, Draghi said the door was still open to rate cuts and/or further bond purchases:

Further cuts in policy interest rates and mitigating measures to contain any side effects remain part of our tools. And the APP (asset purchase program) still has considerable headroom.

If the crisis has shown anything, it is that we will use all the flexibility within our mandate to fulfil our mandate - and we will do so again to answer any challenges to price stability in the future.

9.20am BST

European markets are mixed this morning.

Mining stocks are providing a modest to the FTSE 100, which is up 16 points or 0.2% at 7,374.

9.10am BST

Heathrow has published details of its controversial plans for a third runway, which include lowering part of the M25 so that the runway can cross it, rerouting rivers and relocating huge car parks.

The publication marks the beginning of a 12-week public consultation on the plans, which are opposed by climate campaigners who warn of the damaging impact that 700 extra planes will have when the runway is due to open in 2026.

Related: Heathrow third runway expansion plans revealed

8.33am BST

On day two of the Paris air show, Bloomberg gives a handy summary of some of the key themes:

After one day at the Paris Air Show, Airbus had $13 billion in orders. Boeing had 0. Here's all the news from today https://t.co/sw05N98NsH

8.21am BST

Here is how the European car industry has fared in recent months:

8.06am BST

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

New car sales in Europe rose 0.1% in May to 1.4m, ending a run of eight successive months of decline, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.