Economic calendar: Second-tier data from Europe and US, API oil report

• European indices set for higher opening
• EUR drops after German industrial production miss
• Trade balance from Canada and the United States

European index futures point to a higher opening of the cash session on the Old Continent today. This comes after upbeat trading on Wall Street yesterday and following gains made by Asia-Pacific indices earlier today. DAX and EuroStoxx futures trade around 0.2% higher on the day.

Economic calendar for today is light. German industrial production report for November was already released and turned out to be a big disappointment, triggering small drop on EUR market. EUR traders will also be offered unemployment rate data for November from Italy and eurozone today but those reports rarely trigger market moves. USDCAD may see some moves in the early afternoon during release of US and Canadian trade balance data. Last but not least, API report on oil inventories will be released in the evening.

9:00 am GMT - Italy, unemployment rate for November. Expected: 7.9%. Previous: 7.8%

10:00 am GMT - Euro area, unemployment rate for November. Expected: 6.5%. Previous: 6.5%

1:30 pm GMT - Canada, building permits for November. Expected: -1.2% MoM. Previous: +2.3% MoM

1:30 pm GMT - Canada, trade balance for November. Expected: +C$1.9 billion. Previous: +C$2.97 billion

1:30 pm GMT - US, trade balance for November. Expected: -$65.0 billion. Previous: -$64.3 billion

9:40 pm GMT - API report on oil inventories. Expected: -1.1 mb. Previous: -7.42 mb

Central bankers' speeches

• 5:00 pm GMT - Fed Barr
• 5:30 pm GMT - ECB Villeroy