Economic calendar: Politics and coronavirus in the spotlight

• European markets seen opening lower

• Focus on politics and virus

• Polish retail sales data for November

Economic calendar looks empty today as markets are slowly moving into the year-end holiday period. However, it does not mean that there is nothing to trade on. A new, highly contagious strain of coronavirus has been found in the United Kingdom and several countries announce travel bans to and from the UK. Oil plunged on the news and so have European futures. US futures are holding firm as Republicans and Democrats have reached an agreement on the US stimulus bill with votes being expected today in the afternoon. Last but not least, Brexit deadlock continues and the EU warned that even if agreement is reached, it may not have enough time to ratify it before 2020 ends. Political as well as coronavirus-related headlines are expected to be drivers of today's trading.

Macro releases scheduled for today:

9:00 am GMT - Poland, retail sales for November. Expected: -7.4% YoY. Previous: -2.1% YoY