Economic calendar: ECB decision, US CPI data

• European stock markets set to to open flat

• ECB to announce policy decision at 12:45 pm GMT

• US CPI inflation expected to approach 8% in February

Futures markets point to a more or less flat opening of today's cash session on the Old Continent. European indices booked massive gains yesterday with German and French indices gaining over 7% after Zelensky suggested that he is willing to compromise if Russia compromises as well. In recent days an overreaction to positive news could be spotted showing that markets are really looking forward to the end of war.

Meeting between Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Russia in Turkey is one of the big events today. This is the first such high-level meeting between Ukraine and Russia since the start of war and is hosted on fully neutral ground so investors will surely look for news of the outcome. Apart from that, there are 2 major macro events scheduled for today. European Central Bank will announce policy decision in the early afternoon. It is hard to guess what the Bank will do as war in Ukraine has made all previous forecasts useless. The second big event is the release of US CPI data for February, with market expecting acceleration in headline price growth to 7.9% YoY.

12:45 pm GMT - ECB rate decision

1:30 pm GMT - US, CPI inflation for February.

• Headline. Expected: 7.9% YoY. Previous: 7.5% YoY

• Core. Expected: 6.4% YoY. Previous: 6.0% YoY

1:30 pm GMT - US, jobless claims. Expected: 215k. PRevious: 215k

3:30 pm GMT - US, natural gas storage. Expected: -115 bcf

Central bankers' speeches

• 10:15 pm GMT - RBA Governor Lowe