Economic Calendar - Currencies

The Consumer Sentiment Index is based on a survey of over 1,200 Australian households. The Index is an average of five component indexes which reflect consumers' evaluations of their household financial situation over the past year and the coming year, anticipated economic conditions over the coming year and the next five years, and buying conditions for major household items. The index scores above 100 indicate that optimists outweigh pessimists.

The Consumer Sentiment Index is based on a survey of over 1,200 Australian households. The Index is an average of five component indexes which reflect consumers' evaluations of their household financial situation over the past year and the coming year, anticipated economic conditions over the coming year and the next five years, and buying conditions for major household items. The index scores above 100 indicate that optimists outweigh pessimists.

In China, Housing Index is measured by year-over-year change in the index of newly built residential buildings in 70 medium and large cities. The index is calculated in weighted average method and the weight of each city is based on the population.

In China, Capacity Utilization is the difference between the potential and actual use of an input. Capacity utilization is high when actual output is close to potential output because the most use is being made of labor and capital. The survey includes about 90,000 industrial enterprises.

In China, the year-over-year change in Retail sales compares the aggregated sales of retail goods and services during a certain month to the same month a year ago.

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

In China, the growth rate in GDP measures the change in the seasonally adjusted value of the goods and services produced by the Chinese economy during the quarter. As China’s traditional growth engines of manufacturing and construction are slowing down, services have emerged as the new driver. In the last few quarters strength in services and consumption helped to offset weaker manufacturing and exports. .

In China, urban investment in fixed assets is one of the main measures of capital spending. It refers to investment in construction projects with a total planned investment of 5 million yuan; machinery and equipment and real estate development in both urban and rural areas. It refers to investment made by state-owned enterprises and private businesses, institutions or individuals.

In China, Gross Domestic Product is divided by three sectors: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. The Primary Industry includes Farming, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, and Fishery and accounts for around 9 percent of GDP. The Secondary sector, which includes Industry (40 percent of GDP) and Construction (9 percent of GDP) is the most important. The Tertiary sector accounts for the remaining 44 percent of total output and consist of Wholesale and Retail Trades; Transport, Storage, and Post; Financial Intermediation; Real Estate; Hotel and Catering Services and Others.

In China, Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate is calculated by a sample survey, which refers to the ratio of urban unemployed population to the sum of the employed population and the unemployed population.

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 China, Foreign Direct Investment refers to foreign capital actually utilized, which is to the amount which has been actually used according to the agreements and contracts, including cash, materials and invisible capital such as labor service and technology which both parties agree to take as an investment.

In Canada, Manufacturing Sales provides a current 'snapshot' of sales of goods manufactured values by the Canadian manufacturing sector, enabling analysis of the state of the Canadian economy, as well as the health of specific industries in the short- to medium-term.

In Canada, New Motor Vehicle Sales refers to the number of new motor vehicles sold during a month, including passenger cars and trucks.

In Canada, benchmark interest rate is set by the Bank of Canada's (BoC) Governing Council. The official interest rate is the Overnight Rate. Since 1996 the Bank Rate is set at the upper limit of an operating band for the money market overnight rate. Previously, from March 1980 until February 1996 the Bank Rate was set at 25 basis points above the weekly average tender rate for 3-month Treasury bills.

In Canada, benchmark interest rate is set by the Bank of Canada's (BoC) Governing Council. The official interest rate is the Overnight Rate. Since 1996 the Bank Rate is set at the upper limit of an operating band for the money market overnight rate. Previously, from March 1980 until February 1996 the Bank Rate was set at 25 basis points above the weekly average tender rate for 3-month Treasury bills.

In Canada, benchmark interest rate is set by the Bank of Canada's (BoC) Governing Council. The official interest rate is the Overnight Rate. Since 1996 the Bank Rate is set at the upper limit of an operating band for the money market overnight rate. Previously, from March 1980 until February 1996 the Bank Rate was set at 25 basis points above the weekly average tender rate for 3-month Treasury bills.

In New Zealand, the food price index (FPI) measures the changes in prices that households pay for food.

The Reuters Tankan is a monthly survey of leading Japanese companies, and it was formally known as Telerate Tankan until it was renamed after the acquisition of Quick Money line Telerate Corp. by Thomson Reuters Group. It covers a panel of 200 manufacturers and 200 non-manufacturers. The monthly figures are designed to provide early indications of the BOJs quarterly tankan. The indexes are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say business conditions are poor from the percentage of those who say they are good.