Economic calendar: US durable goods orders, Conference Board index

• European indices launch trading lower
• US durable goods orders, Conference Board index
• Earnings reports from Beyond Meat, Ebay and Virgin Galactic

European indices launched today's trading slightly lower or little changed. This comes in spite of a rather upbeat Asia-Pacific session earlier today, during which the majority of regional indices traded higher. JPY is one of the best performing G10 currencies, following a smaller-than-expected slowdown in Japanese inflation in January. Meanwhile, USD is among G10 top laggards, providing support for precious metals.

Economic calendar for the day ahead is light, but includes some noteworthy releases, especially in the afternoon. Traders will be offered US durable goods orders report for January as well as Conference Board consumer confidence index for February. Among today's earnings reporters one can find Beyond Meat, Ebay and Virgin Galactic.

1:00 pm GMT - Hungarian central bank rate decision

1:30 pm GMT - US, durable goods orders for January.

• Headline. Expected: -4.5% MoM. Previous: 0.0% MoM
• Ex-transport. Expected: +0.2% MoM. Previous: +0.5% MoM

3:00 pm GMT - Richmond Fed index for February. Expected: -4.0. Previous: -15.0

3:00 pm GMT - US, Conference Board consumer confidence index for February. Expected: 114.9. Previous: 114.8

9:40 pm GMT - API report on oil inventories. Expected: +1.5 mb. Previous: +7.17 mb

Central bankers' speeches

• 12:00 pm GMT - ECB Elderson
• 1:40 pm GMT - BoE Ramsden
• 2:05 pm GMT - Fed Barr

Top Wall Street earnings reports scheduled for today

• Beyond Meat (BYND.US) - after market close
• Ebay (EBAY.US) - after market close
• Macy's (M.US) - before market open
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH.US) - before market open
• Virgin Galactic (SPCE.US) - after market close