Economic calendar: Holidays in US and Canada thin out liquidity

• European indices open higher

• Liquidity expected to be impacted by holidays in US and Canada

• Flash PMIs from Japan and Australia, RBA minutes during Asian session ahead

European stock market indices launched the first session of a new week with a bullish price gap This comes after a rather upbeat Asian session that saw indices from the region, especially in China, gain. Major indices from mainland China traded around 2% higher this week. Interestingly, there was no news that could justify those moves. In fact, some reports surfaced over the weekend saying the meeting between top US and Chinese diplomats was far from encouraging and it should deteriorate sentiment rather than improve it.

Economic calendar for today is light with only some second-tier data being scheduled for release during the European trading hours. A point to note is that US traders will be off today to observe Presidents Day. On top of that, traders from Canada will also be off to observe Family Day holiday. As a result, liquidity conditions in the afternoon are expected to be much thinner (changes to trading hours listed below). AUD may see some action this evening and the coming Asian session, thanks to scheduled releases of flash PMI for February and RBA minutes.

9:00 am GMT - Poland, data pack for January.

• Industrial production. Expected: 4.2% YoY. Previous: 1.0% YoY
• Wage growth. Expected: 12.6% YoY. Previous: 10.3% YoY
• Employment. Expected: 1.8% YoY. Previous: 2.2% YoY

Overnight/Asian session

Monday, 10:00 pm GMT - Australia, flash PMIs for February.

Tuesday, 0:30 am GMT - RBA minutes

Tuesday, 0:30 am GMT - Japan, flash manufacturing PMI for February

US holiday - trading hours changes

• No trading - BRAComp, CORN, SOYBEAN, WHEAT, SOYOIL, LEANHOGS, CATTLE, SUGAR, COCOA, COFFEE, COTTON
• Trading until 4:30 pm GMT - VIX
• Trading until 6:00 pm GMT - US30, US100, US500, US2000, USDIDX, TNOTE
• Trading until 7:15 pm GMT - PLATINUM, PALLADIUM
• Trading until 7:30 pm GMT - GOLD, SILVER, GASOLINE, OIL.WTI, NATGAS