In the aftermath of the European Central Bank's decision to hold rates unchanged, markets will be waiting for indication from the ECB of any future rate hikes to come.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and executive board members Jurgen Stark and Lorenzo Bini Smaghi will speak at an event in Frankfurt, Germany, while the ECB's Gonzalez-Paramo will talk at an event in San Sebastian, Spain.

Friday is also a big day for new ECB member and President of the Austrian central bank Ewald Nowotny. He will speak at his first press conference in Vienna, Austria.

German industrial production is projected to fall 0.5% month-over-month in July, following a previous rise of 0.2%. On an annualized basis, industrial production is expected to rise 0.8%, down from the prior 1.7% year-over-year result.

Italy's total trade balance for the month of June is forecast to come in at -€1000M, down from the previous month's -€59.0M figure.

All times in EDT:

2:45 FR Central Govt. Balance July Exp: €-33.4BPrior: €-32.8B

2:50 DE ECB's Trichet, Stark, Bini Smaghi Speak in Frankfurt

4:00 IT Trade Balance (Total) (Euros) June Exp: €-1000M Prior: €-59.0M

4:00 IT Trade Balance Eu (Euros) June Prior: +€1713.0M

4:00 EU ECB's Ewald Nowotny holds opening press conference in Vienna

6:00 DE Industrial Production (Y/Y) (NSA) (WDA) July Exp: +0.8% Prior: +1.7%

6:00 DE Industrial Production (M/M) (SA) July Exp: -0.5% Prior: +0.2%

6:30 EU ECB's Gonzalez-Paramo Speaks in San Sebastian

By Steve Stecyk, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Sarah Sussman, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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