Yesterday's session brought UK Retail Sales data. Continuing a sustained period of year-on-year growth, the volume of retail sales in March 2016 is estimated to have increased by 2.7% compared with March 2015. This was the 35th consecutive month of year-on-year growth. The underlying pattern in the data, as suggested by the 3 month on 3 month movement in the quantity bought, showed growth for the 28th consecutive month, increasing by 0.8%. Compared with February 2016, the quantity bought in the retail industry is estimated to have decreased by 1.3%. Analysts were anticipating 0.1% decrease.
In the US session
Unemployment Claims and Philly Fed Manufacturing Index figures were released. In the week ending April 16, the advance figure for
seasonally adjusted initial claims was 247,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 253,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 24, 1973 when it was 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 260,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 265,000. There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims. This marks 59 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.
Separate report on Philly Fed Manufacturing Index showed that the index for current activity decreased from 12.4 in March to -1.6 this month. Analysts were expecting smaller decrease to 8.1.The index had turned positive last month following six consecutive negative readings. The current new orders and shipments indexes also fell this month. The percentage of firms reporting a rise in new orders was exactly offset by the percentage reporting a decline. The unfilled orders and delivery time indexes suggested weakness, as both indexes were in negative territory this month. Firms continued to report overall declines in inventories.
We can expect a bit steadier session tomorrow, with no major data releases both from UK and USA.
