Economic Calendar - Currencies

The activity index of the tertiary industry helps to understand an overall picture of industrial activities, inclusive of all business categories in the tertiary industry. The composite index is a general indicator in which the indexes to express the activity in respective business categories are consolidated with weight in terms of the scale of relative importance of each business category (value added). Wholesale Trade is the most important sector and accounts for 15 percent of tertiary activity, followed by Medical, Health Care & Welfare and Living & Amusement-related Services (12 percent each), Information & Communications (11 percent), Retail Trade and Transport & Postal Activities (10 percent each), Finance and Insurance (9 percent), Real Estate (8 percent), Business-related Services (7 percent), and Electricity, Gas, Heat Supply & Water and Goods Rental and Leasing (3 percent each).

In Switzerland, industrial production measures the output of businesses integrated in industrial sector of the economy such as manufacturing, mining, and utilities.

In Brazil, the Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br) is considered as a preview of the GDP figures and it is widely used by the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee to determine whether to modify basic interest rate. The index reflects the performance of the three main sectors of the economy: agriculture, industry and services and has a base value of 100 as of 2002.

In Canada, a housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. This can be described in 2 ways: usually, the stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure; or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.

In Canada, the data series on international transactions in securities covers portfolio transactions in equity and investment fund shares, bonds and money market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. This activity excludes transactions in equity and debt instruments between affiliated enterprises, which are classified as foreign direct investment in international accounts.

The Global Dairy Trade Price Index measures the weighted-average price of nine dairy products sold at auction every two weeks in New Zealand.

In New Zealand, the PPI input indexes measure price changes in the current costs of production within the economy. The definition of current costs of production is consistent with intermediate consumption. The input indexes cover: purchase of materials; fuels and electricity; transport and communication; commission and contract services; rent and lease of land, buildings, vehicles, and machinery; business services; insurance premiums less claims; financial intermediation services.

In New Zealand, the PPI output indexes measure changes in the prices received by businesses for the goods and services they produce. The prices used to calculate the output indexes are conceptually those prices received by the producer for the good or service. The output indexes cover: sales of primary products; sales of manufactured goods; revenue from renting and leasing; provision of services; capital work undertaken by the producer’s own employees; margins on goods purchased for resale.

In Japan, Machinery Orders refers to the month-over-month change of the private sector machinery orders, excluding volatile ones for ships and those from electric power companies.