MNI European Morning Briefing

     LONDON (MNI) - It is a jam-packed calendar on Thursday featuring a number

of high profile data and central bank releases.

     The economic docket kicks off with German GFK Consumer Climate at 0600GMT.

     At 0730GMT the Riksbank will announce rates, all policy measures are

expected to be kept on hold at the meeting. The Bank has explicitly linked its

monetary policy to other central banks, most notably the European Central which

meet later in the day.

     Shortly after the Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Guy Debelle

speaks at Warren Hogan Memorial Lecture in Sydney with an audience Q&A, speech

is due to begin at 0745GMT.

     At 0800GMT Italian ISTAT Business and Consumer Confidence figures are due

to hit the wires, alongside Eurozone M3 Money Supply data.

     Also at 0800GMT the Norges Bank announce rates. Following the rate

announcement Norges Bank Governor Ostein Olsen speech at the Centre for Monetary

Economics (CME), in Oslo at 0900GMT.

     At 1000GMT UK CBI Distributive Trades data is scheduled.

     At 1145GMT comes the ECB monetary policy decision. European Central Bank

President Mario Draghi will try to pull-off a tricky balancing act at Thursday's

press conference following the Governing Council meeting, by setting out in

detail how the ECB will reduce its asset purchases while also trying to meet the

more dovish Governing council members' pleas for flexibility should price

pressures abate.

     The first US release of the day comes at 1230GMT in the form of US Jobless

Claims. The level of initial jobless claims is expected to rise by 13,000 to a

still-low 235,000 in the October 21 week after a 22,000 decrease in the previous

week to the lowest level since 1973. The four-week moving average would fall by

8,500 in the coming week as that 269,000 level in the September 23 week drops

out of the calculation, assuming the MNI forecast is correct and there are no

revisions.

     Alongside this release comes US Advance Trade and Advance Business

Inventories.

     Also at 1230GMT is the Canadian Payroll Employment data and ECB President

Mario Draghi will being his press conference following the ECB rate announcement

in Frankfurt.

     The US Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index is at 1345GMT.

     At 1400GMT US Building Permits revisions are due to be published, NAR

Pending Home Sales are also due at 1400GMT.

     US Natural Gas Stocks are on the docket at 1430GMT, while Minneapolis

Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will give Welcoming Remarks at

Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Fall Conference in Minneapolis.

     At 1500GMT comes the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index.

     Rounding off the day at 2030GMT is the Fed Weekly Money Supply data.

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3809; email: kieran.williams@marketnews.com