The Block: ECB resumes quantitative easing after 9 months and cuts rates for the first time in 3 years

European Central Bank (ECB) announced Thursday that it will resume quantitative easing (QE) program in November with monthly purchases of €20 billion in bonds. ECB said that it will run the program "for as long as necessary"; at least until it starts seeing an increase in its key interest rates. The QE program was paused in December after buying €2.6 trillion of bonds.

ECB also announced that it will cut the deposit rate, one of its key interest rates, from -0.4% to -0.5%, which is the first time since March 2016. No changes were made to the main refinancing rate, which is currently at 0%. President Trump tweeted : "[The ECB] is trying, and succeeding, in depreciating the Euro against the VERY strong Dollar, hurting U.S. exports."

The euro dropped by 0.8% to 1.093 against the USD. The price of gold has meanwhile rallied by 1.2% while the price of bitcoin has increased by 0.3% but without a strong immediate reaction to the announcement.