The Bank of England and European Central Bank rate decisions will kick off the day, followed by the U.S. ADP unemployment report, initial jobless claims, the ISM non-manufacturing index, Department of Energy oil inventories and some Fed-speakers in the afternoon.

At 7 a.m. EDT, the Bank of England will make its interest rate announcement. The BOE is expected to hold the Bank Rate unchanged at 5.00%.

At 7:45 a.m. EDT, the European Central Bank is expected to leave rates unchanged at 4.25%.

At 8:15 a.m. EDT, Automatic Data Processing INC will release its employment report for the United States in August. The consensus expects a decline of 30k jobs compared to the 9k increase reported in July.

Also at 8:15 a.m., the Canadian government will release its holdings of international reserves for August, which declined by $1.2 billion in July.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will hold a press conference explaining the rate decision made earlier on Thursday morning.

Also at 8:30 a.m., the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release final second-quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs. Nonfarm productivity is expected to be revised to a 3.5% increase compared to the preliminary suggestion of a 2.2% increase, while unit labour costs are expected to be revised down to no change from the first quarter compared to the 1.3% growth rate predicted in the preliminary report.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor will release initial and continuing jobless claims for the weeks ending Aug. 30 and 23 respectively. Economists expect initial jobless claims to rise 420k following the previous week's 425k increase. Continuing claims are expected to fall to 3420k from 3423k.

At 10 a.m. EDT, the Institute for Supply management will release its U.S. non-manufacturing index for August. The headline index is expected to be unchanged at 49.5. Markets will also be paying attention to the new orders, prices paid, and employment indexes which scored 47.9, 80.8 and 47.1 respectively in July.

At 10:35 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release natural gas storage for the week ending Aug. 29, which is expected to show a build of 91 Bcf following the previous week's 102 Bcf gain.

At 11:00 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release oil inventories for the week ending Aug. 29. Economists are expecting a 450k build in crude oil reserves following the previous 3502k decrease. Gasoline inventories are expected to fall 1300k following the previous 1179k decline. Distillate inventories are expected to add 1000k barrels after rising 57k in the previous week. Refinery utilization is expected to expand 0.2% after gaining 1.58% in the previous week.

At 1:40 p.m. EDT, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher (voter) will speak on the U.S. economy from Houston, Texas. An audience Q&A will follow.

At 2:30 p.m. EDT San Francisco Fed President (non-voter) will speak on the U.S. economy from Salt Lake City, Utah. An audience Q&A will follow.

At 3 p.m. EDT, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Phillip Swagel will deliver remarks on housing, financial markets and the economy at the Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy in Berkeley, California.

At some point on Thursday, the International Council of Shopping Centers will release chain store sales for August. In July, they rose 2.6% on the year.

7:00 GB Bank of England Interest Rate Decision Exp: 5.00% Prior: 5.00%

7:45 EU ECB Announces Interest Rates Exp: 4.25% Prior: 4.25%

8:15 CA Foreign Reserves

8:15 US ADP Employment Change August Exp: -30K Prior: +9K

8:30 EU ECB's Trichet to Speak at monthly News Conference

8:30 US Nonfarm Productivity 2Q Final Exp: +3.5% Prior: +2.2%

8:30 US Unit Labor Costs 2Q Final Exp: +0.0% Prior: +1.3%

8:30 US Initial Jobless Claims 30-Aug Exp: +420K Prior: +425K

8:30 US Continuing Claims 23-Aug Exp: +3420K Prior: +3423K

10:00 US ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite August Exp:+ 49.5 Prior: +49.5

10:35 US EIA Natural Gas Storage Change 29-Aug Exp: +91 Bcf Prior: +102 Bcf

11:00 US DOE U.S. Crude Oil Inventories 29-Aug Exp: +450K Prior: -3502K

11:00 US DOE U.S. Gasoline Inventories 29-Aug Exp: -1300K Prior: -1179K

11:00 US DOE U.S. Distillate Inventory 29-Aug Exp: +1000K Prior: +57K

11:00 US DOE U.S. Refinery Utilization 29-Aug Exp: +0.20% Prior: +1.58%

13:40 US Fed's Fisher Speaks in Houston on U.S. Economic Challenges

14:30 US Fed's Yellen Speaks in Salt Lake City on U.S. Economy

15:00 US TSY's Swagel Speak at Berkley, California

US ICSC Chain Store Sales (Y/Y) August Prior: +2.6%

By Erik Kevin Franco and edited by Nancy Girgis