Economic calendar: EU summit and ECB meeting

• European markets seen opening lower

• EU summit on European budget and recovery fund

• ECB set to add more stimulus

Indices from the Old Continent are seen opening lower on Thursday following a heavy tech sell-off on Wall Street yesterday. The day is looking interesting for European markets thanks to two big events - EU summit on budget and ECB meeting. Poland, Hungary and Germany reportedly reached a compromise on the EU budget yesterday but nothing should be taken for granted as there are some member states that are sceptical towards the compromise on rule-of-law mechanism. When it comes to the ECB, rates are likely to be left unchanged but more stimulus is expected to be added.

12:45 pm GMT - ECB rate decision.

1:30 pm GMT - US, jobless claims. Expected: 725k. Previous: 712k

1:30 pm GMT - US, CPI inflation for November.

• Headline. Expected: 1.1% YoY. Previous: 1.2% YoY

• Core. Expected: 1.6% YoY. Previous: 1.6% YoY

1:30 pm GMT - ECB post-meeting press conference

3:30 pm GMT - EIA natural gas storage change. Expected: -85 bcf. Previous: -9 bcf