Economic calendar: Canadian retail sales, US politics on watch

• European markets set for higher opening

• Vote on $1.9 stimulus plan could be held today in the House

• Biden expected to announce Fed Chair pick this week

S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at the highest levels on the record yesterday and US futures advanced further during the Asian session. Equities in Asia-Pacific also benefited from improvement in moods, setting ground for a higher opening of the European cash session today. Risk-on moods can also be spotted on the commodities market with gains being made by industrial metals and oil.

The day ahead looks calm with just some second-tier data scheduled for release. Canadian retail sales report at 1:30 pm GMT may have some short-term impact on CAD. There are 2 non-data events to look out for and neither is certain to happen today. Firstly, Democrats in the House of Representatives want to hold a vote on a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. Secondly, President Joe Biden is expected to announce his next Fed Chair pick this week. However, Biden did not provide a specific date and time of the announcement and it cannot be ruled out that he may want to wait until markets close, not to cause unnecessary volatility.

9:00 am GMT - Poland, labour market report for October.

• Employment growth. Expected: 0.5% YoY. Previous: 0.6% YoY

• Wage growth. Expected: 8.9% YoY. Previous: 8.7% YoY

1:30 pm GMT - Canada, retail sales for September. Expected: -1.6% MoM. Previous: 2.1% MoM

Central bankers' speeches

• 8:30 am GMT - ECB President Lagarde

• 3:45 pm GMT - Fed's Waller

• 5:15 pm GMT - Fed's Clarida

• 6:00 pm GMT - ECB President Lagarde

US earnings releases

• Foot Locker (FL.US) - before market open