Economic calendar: ECB minutes and central bankers

• European futures point to a higher opening of today's session

• ECB minutes to be released at 12:30 pm BST

• US politics could be a mover in the later part of the day

European futures point to a higher opening of today's cash session. Markets still hope that some sort of piecemeal stimulus deal can be made in the United States. Donald Trump is set to appear on Fox today at 1:00 pm BST so beware of additional volatility.

FOMC minutes released yesterday did not offer any new hints on the US monetary policy. Investors will be offered a release from the ECB today but one should not expect fireworks either. European Central Bank is in wait-and-see mode and wants to see the impact of its recent actions before deciding to do more. Apart from that, a lot of ECB and Fed members will speak today. US jobless claims could offer some short-term volatility on USD and US indices.

12:30 pm BST - ECB minutes.

1:30 pm BST - US, jobless claims. Expected: 820k. Previous: 837k

3:30 pm BST - EIA natural gas stocks. Expected: 73 bcf. Previous: 76 bcf

Central bankers' speeches

• 8:25 am BST - ECB's Schnabel

• 9:00 am BST - ECB's de Guindos

• 11:15 am BST - ECB's Mersch

• 7:25 pm BST - Fed's Barkin

• 11:00 pm BST - Fed's Kaplan