Economic calendar: Retail sales and PPI data from the United States

• European indice set to open little changed
• Retail sales and PPI data from the United States
• Speeches from ECB members

European index futures point to a flat or slightly lower opening of today's cash session for major blue chips indices from the Old Continent. This comes after a mixed trading on Wall Street yesterday and during Asia-Pacific session earlier today. JPY is pulling back in spite of big wage hikes being negotiated by trade unions. Bitcoin ticks higher, testing $73,500 area today.

Economic calendar for the European morning is almost empty. Traders will be offered final Spanish CPI reading for February but it is unlikely to trigger any major price moves. Things get more interesting in the afternoon with release of US PPI and retail sales reports for February, both at 12:30 pm GMT. Energy traders will focus on EIA report on natural gas storage. While there is almost no data from Europe scheduled for today, EUR may still see some volatility as there is a number of speeches from ECB members scheduled.

8:00 am GMT - Spain, CPI inflation for February (final). First release: 2.8% YoY

12:30 pm GMT - Canada, manufacturing sales for January. Expected: 0.4% MoM. Previous: -0.7% MoM

12:30 pm GMT - US, retail sales for February.

• Headline. Expected: 0.8% MoM. Previous: -0.8% MoM
• Ex-transport. Expected: 0.5% MoM. Previous: -0.6% MoM

12:30 pm GMT - US, PPI inflation for February.

• Headline. Expected: 1.1% YoY. Previous: 0.9% YoY
• Core. Expected: 1.9% YoY. Previous: 2.0% YoY

12:30 pm GMT - US, initial jobless claims. Expected: 218k. Previous: 217k

2:00 pm GMT - US, business inventories for January. Expected: 0.2% MoM. Previous: 0.4% MoM

2:30 pm GMT - EIA natural gas storage. Expected: -37 bcf. Previous: -40 bcf

Central bankers' speeches

• 9:30 am GMT - ECB Elderson
• 11:00 am GMT - ECB Schnabel
• 12:00 pm GMT - ECB Knot
• 5:00 pm GMT - ECB de Cos
• 6:00 pm GMT - ECB de Guindos
• 6:30 pm GMT - ECB Stournaras