Daily Economic Calendar – May 18, 2017

You’re watching the Economic Calendar for Thursday, the 18th of May. Here’s a rundown of the most important news releases.
UK Retail Sales for April are up first at 8:30 AM. The March data came in much weaker than expected, fully reversing a 1.7% gain the previous month.

The closely watched weekly update on US Jobless Claims follows at 12:30 PM GMT. The US labour market has been going strong for a while now, and the last week’s report confirmed it once again; initial claims went down by 2 thousand during the week ending May 6, while the continuing claims dropped by 27.5 thousand, hitting their lowest level in more than 4 decades.
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for May is out at the same time. The April data surprised on the downside as the Index plunged to a 4-month low.
US Leading Index for April is released at 2. The Index continued growing in March, although at a slightly slower pace than the point 5% gain the previous month.
ECB President Mario Draghi will be speaking at the Univerity of Tel Aviv at 5 o’clock in the evening, and it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the speech, as his comments often cause volatility in the markets.
And there’s little on the schedule until 3 o’clock in the morning, when New Zealand Credit Card Spending for April is released. Spending picked up speed in March, following a 5.3% gain a month ago.