The European Commission's economic sentiment index in March is expected to rise slightly to 95.8 from February's 95.4, which remained well short of the 100 long-run average.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller will speak on the economic outlook before an Economic Club of New York reception at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT).

The summary of the Bank of Japan's March 18-19 meeting is expected to show board members discussed the timing of ending the seven-year-old yield curve control framework and lifting the overnight interest rate target from the minus 0.1 percent before voting for these changes in a majority vote as part of the bank's process to reduce the costs of providing large-scale monetary stimulus to the economy.

Australian retail sales in February are expected to increase 0.4 percent on the month after January's 1.1 percent gain that was lower than expected and followed December's 2.7 percent slump.

Market Focus details key factors in the coming day that will impact the economic outlook and the financial markets. These include central bank events, economic indicators, policymaker speeches as well as expected political and corporate developments.

Keeping up-to-date with event schedules and the economic calendar is key to understanding the global financial system. Econoday's Market Focus allows investors and policymakers to carefully track what will be making news and moving the financial markets in the coming day.