Economic calendar: Second-tier data from US, central bankers' speeches

• European indices point to a higher opening

• US oil report on watch after API pointed to big drop

• Czech National Bank set to leave rates unchanged

European index futures point to a higher opening of the cash session on the Old Continent today, with Euro Stoxx and DAX futures trading around 0.5% higher at press time. This comes after a rather upbeat Asian session when regional indices gained. AUD is one of the worst performing G10 currencies after Australian CPI data for February came in lower-than-expected. On the other hand, USD is among G10 leaders and it is putting pressure on precious metals prices.

Economic calendar for the day ahead is light as all top-tier releases scheduled for this week will come on Thursday and Friday. Traders will be offered a rate decision from the Czech National Bank with rates being expected to stay unchanged. US pending home sales data at 3:00 pm BST may trigger some short-term volatility on USD, should it show a major deviation from expectations. Oil traders will focus on the official US report on oil inventories after API data released yesterday pointed to a massive drop.

1:30 pm BST - Czech National Bank rate decision

3:00 pm BST - US, pending home sales for February. Expected: -2.5% MoM. Previous: +8.1% MoM

3:30 pm BST - US, DOE report on US oil inventories.

• Oil inventories. Expected: +0.3 mb (API: -6.08 mb)

• Gasoline inventories. Expected: -1.6 mb (API: -5.89 mb)

• Distillate inventories. Expected: -1.4 mb (API: +0.55 mb)

Central bankers' speeches

• 3:00 pm BST - Fed Barr

• 5:30 pm BST - BoC Gravelle

• 7:50 pm BST - BoE Mann

• 9:45 pm BST - ECB Schnabel