Economic calendar: FOMC decision, Biden's speech

• European stock markets are seen opening slightly higher

• FOMC decision in the evening

• Biden to address Congress

European stock markets are set to open slightly higher on Wednesday. Economic calendar for the European session is empty but things get more interesting in the afternoon. Oil traders will be offered a DOE report on oil inventories and it is expected to show a small build. However, key event of the day is scheduled for the evening - FOMC decision. The US central bank is expected to leave monetary policy settings unchanged and send a balance message saying it is too early to tighten policy. Powell's presser at 7:30 pm BST will be key. Last but not least, US President Joe Biden will deliver an address to Congress at 2:00 am BST. Biden will outline spending proposals and ask Congress to fund them.

1:30 pm BST - Canada, retail sales for February.

• Headline. Expected: 4% MoM. Previous: -1.1% MoM

• Excluding autos. Expected: 3.7% MoM. Previous: -1.2% MoM

3:30 pm BST - DOE report on oil inventories.

• Oil inventories. Expected: +0.4 mb

• Gasoline inventories. Expected: +0.4 mb

• Distillate inventories. Expected: -0.2 mb

7:00 pm BST - FOMC decision

Overnight

2:00 am BST - Biden addresses Congress

Central bankers' speeches

• 3:00 pm BST - ECB President Lagarde

• 7:30 pm BST - Fed Chair Powell (post-meeting conference)

US earnings reports

• Apple (AAPL.US) - after market close

• Automatic Data Processing (ADP.US) - before market open

• Boeing (BA.US) - before market open

• CME Group (CME.US) - before market open

• Ebay (EBAY.US) - after market close

• Facebook (FB.US) - after market close

• Humana (HUM.US) - before market open

• Qualcomm (QCOM.US) - after market close

• Shopify (SHOP.US) - before market open