Economic Calendar - Currencies

Australia imports mainly machinery and transport equipment (40 percent of total imports), of which road vehicles account for 12 percent, industrial machinery for 6 percent, electrical machinery for 5 percent and telecommunications and sound recording for 5 percent.The country also imports: petroleum (11 percent); manufactured goods (12 percent); chemicals and related products (10 percent); and food and live animals (5 percent). Main import partners are China (23 percent of total imports), the US (11 percent), Japan (7 percent), South Korea, Thailand and Germany (5 percent each) and Malaysia (4 percent).

Australia has been recording consistent trade surpluses since 2017 due to rise in a resource exports like natural gas, metal ores and minerals, coal, coke and briquettes, and rural goods such as meat and cereals. The biggest trade surpluses are recorded with China, Hong Kong and Japan, and New Zealand while the biggest trade deficits are with the United States, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of commodities. Metalliferous ores and metal scrap account for 29 percent of total exports; coal, coke and briquettes for 15 percent; and gas for 7 percent. The country also exports: food and live animals (14 percent), mainly meat (5 percent) and cereals (4 percent); manufactured goods (6 percent), mainly non-ferrous metals (4 percent); and machinery and transport equipment (6 percent). Australia's largest export markets are China (32 percent of total exports), Japan (16 percent), South Korea (7 percent), the US (5 percent), India (4 percent), New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan (3 percent each).

Coincident Index correlates with the business cycle, and is used to identify the current state of the economy. In general, increasing coincident index shows that the economy is in an expansion phase, and decreasing coincident index reflects that the economy is in a contraction phase. The index is calculated using month-over-month percentage changes in 11 leading indicators, 11 coincident indicators, and 6 lagging indicators.

In Japan, the Leading Composite Index consists of 12 indexes such as account inventory ratios, machinery orders, stock prices and other leading economic indicators. The index anticipates changes in the direction of the Japanese economy in the coming months. In general, increase in the index reflects that the economy is in an expansion phase, and decreasing coincident index reflects that the economy is in a contraction phase. The index is used to make official judgement on when the business cycle begins and ends.

In Switzerland, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.

In Switzerland, Foreign Exchange Reserves are the foreign assets held or controlled by the country central bank. The reserves are made of gold or a specific currency. They can also be special drawing rights and marketable securities denominated in foreign currencies like treasury bills, government bonds, corporate bonds and equities and foreign currency loans.

The Turkish trade balance has been in deficit since 1947. Turkey major exports are road vehicles, textiles, iron and steel, clothing and food, while imports were machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, mineral fuels and lubricants and chemicals. The biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Russia, Germany, South Korea, Switzerland, India, Iran and Japan; and the largest surpluses were recorded with Iraq, the UAE, the UK, Israel, Syria, Northern Cyprus and Azerbaijan.

Turkey's major exports are: machinery and transport equipment (31 percent of total exports), of which road vehicles (15 percent) and electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances (6 percent); manufactured goods (25 percent), of which textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles (7 percent), iron and steel (6 percent) and manufactures of metals (4 percent); miscellaneous manufactured articles (18 percent), of which articles of apparel and clothing accessories (10 percent); food and live animals (9 percent), of which fruits and vegetables (4 percent); chemicals and related products (6 percent); and gold,non-monetary (4 percent). Turkey's main export partners were: Germany (10 percent of total exports); the UK, the UAE, Iraq and the US (6 percent each); Italy (5 percent); France and Spain (4 percent each).

Turkey's main imports are machinery and transport equipment (31 percent of total imports), of which road vehicles (7 percent) and electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances (6 percent); manufactured goods (16 percent), of which iron and steel (5 percent); mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (16 percent), of which petroleum and petroleum products (4 percent); chemicals and related products (13 percent), of which plastics (4 percent); gold, non-monetary (7 percent); crude materials, inedible, except fuels (7 percent); miscellaneous manufactured articles (6 percent); and food and live animals (4 percent). The country's main imports' sources were: China (10 percent of total imports); Germany (9 percent); Russia (8 percent); the US and Italy (5 percent each); France, Iran, Switzerland, South Korea, the UK, Spain and India (3 percent each).

In Switzerland, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.

In Mexico, the Consumer Confidence Index (ICC) measures the current perception and future expectations that people have about their economic situation, their family and the country in general, in respect to the purchase of consumption durables and non-durables, as well as employment, inflation and savings. The index is based on a sample of 2336 households located in the 32 major cities of the country. The ICC has a base of 100 as of January of 2003, levels above 100 indicate optimism, 100 neutrality and below 100 pessimism.

Producer prices change refers to year over year change in price of goods and services sold by manufacturers and producers in the wholesale market during a given period.

In Brazil, car production measures the total number of manufactured cars including passenger cars, trucks and buses in the reference month.

In Brazil, New Vehicle Registrations refers to total registration of new vehicles, including passenger cars, trucks and buses.

The Composite Output Index is a weighted average of the Manufacturing Output Index and the Services Business Activity Index. The weights reflect the relative size of the manufacturing and service sectors according to official GDP data. The Composite Output Index may be referred to as the ‘Composite PMI’ but is not comparable with the headline manufacturing PMI figure.