Economic calendar: US claims data, earnings from PayPal and Pepsi

• European indices set for higher opening

• US jobless claims and EIA report on gas inventories

• Earnings from PayPal and Pepsi 

European index futures point to a higher opening of the cash session on the Old Continent today. This comes after a downbeat Wall Street session yesterday and mixed Asian session. Antipodean currencies - AUD and NZD - are G10 top performers while US dollar lag the most. Weakening of USD provides a lift for precious metals with gold trading 0.3% higher at press time. Major cryptocurrencies are trading lower with Bitcoin trading around the $22,600 mark.

Economic calendar for the day ahead is light. When it comes to Europe, the key data - German preliminary inflation figures for January - has already been released. It showed the annual inflation rate rose to 8.7% last month from 8.6% in December, below market projections of 8.9% rise as the one-off government subsidy from December falls out of the calculation. Later on traders will also be offered rate decision from Riksbank, which is expected to raise rates by 50 bp. 

When it comes to the North American session, the only noteworthy readings are US jobless claims and EIA report on gas inventories. However, EUR  and GBP may see some volatility throughout the day coming from bankers speeches. Last but not the least, a number of US companies are set to report earnings today with Paypal and Pepsi being the highlights.

8:30 am GMT - Riksbank rate decision

9:45 am GMT - UK, Monetary Policy Report Hearings

1:30 pm GMT - US, weekly jobless claims. Expected: 190k. Previous: 183k

3:30 pm GMT - EIA natural gas storage. Expected: -195 bcf. Previous: -151 bcf

Central bankers' speeches

• 09:45 am GMT - BoE Bailey

• 06:00 pm GMT - ECB De Guindos

• 06:00 pm GMT - Bundesbank Nagel

Top US earnings reports

• Aurora Canabis (ACB.US) - after market close

• Hilton (HLT.US) - before market open

• Lyft (LYFT.US) - after market close

• PayPal (PYPL.US) - after market close

• Pepsi (PEP.US) - before market open