See ECB to stick with short-term debt plan: Goldman Sachs

Here are experts equity calls for the day on how the markets are expected to trade:

Michael Kurtz, Nomura: Asian markets are in a consolidation phase and we would not want to lower exposure to risk now, particularly as key factors within Asia and globally may be on the verge of sizeable improvement. In the developed markets, potential positive triggers include a qualitative shift in European monetary policy to enable ECB monetisation of distressed sovereign assets and economic improvements in the US.

Andrew Benito, Goldman Sachs: We expect the ECB to reiterate its preparedness to buy short-dated govt debt which will be dependent on requests for EFSF & ESM support. The risk is that today's announcements will fall short of expectations. But, given the need to keep governments on-track with reforms, we maintain our positive bias.