Economic calendar: University of Michigan index, final CPI from Europe

• European stock markets set for lower opening

• University of Michigan consumer sentiment at 3:00 pm BST

• UK retail sales dropped more than expected in August

European index futures point to a lower opening of the cash session on the Old Continent today. While moods were already poor yesterday during the day, they were dented further by FedEx earnings release yesterday after the close of Wall Street. FedEx was disappointed with earnings, pointed at weakness in Asia and Europe, and decided to withdraw guidance for the fiscal-year.

Economic calendar for the day ahead is light with a lack of top-tier releases. UK retail sales data for August was already released at 7:00 am BST and showed a 1.6% MoM drop against expectations of 0.5% MoM drop. GBPUSD dropped around 0.3% on the news but has recovered some of those losses since. The only noteworthy reading left today is the consumer sentiment index for August from the University of Michigan at 3:00 pm BST. It is expected to show improvement compared to a month ago. Apart from that ,traders will also be offered final CPI readings for August from Italy and Eurozone as well as housing market data from Canada.

10:00 am BST - Euro area, CPI inflation for August (final). First release: 9.1% YoY

10:00 am BST - Italy, CPI inflation for August (final). First release: 8.4% YoY 

1:00 pm BST - Poland, core CPI inflation for August. Expected: 9.9% YoY. Previous: 9.3% YoY

1:15 pm BST - Canada, housing starts for August. Expected: 264k. Previous: 275.3k

1:30 pm BST - Canada, wholesale trade for July. Expected: -0.4% MoM. Previous: 0.1% MoM

3:00 pm BST - US, University of Michigan consumer sentiment for September. Expected: 60.0. Previous: 58.2