This article was written by Chris Konstantinos, CFA, Director of International Portfolio Management at RiverFront Investment Group, a participant in the ETF Strategist Channel.
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Index Definitions:
It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The DG ECFIN Euro 15 Economic Sentiment Indicator is made up of the 15 individual components of confidence indicators. Explicit weights are allocated to the different sectors for the computation of the composite indicator: a) Industry: 40%, b) Services: 30%, c) Consumers: 20%, d) Construction: 5%, e) Retail trade: 5%.
The Sentix Sentiment Indicator is a monthly survey among 1600 financial analysts and institutional investors. Participants are asked about their opinion regarding the current economic situation and their expectations for the next six months in Japan. The sentix sentiment indicator consists of 36 different indicators. For both investor groups, private and institutional, is a component for current situations as well as expected situations indicated (24 sub-components). Each indicator is calculated as a qualitative diffusion-indicator and range between -100 (very bad, strongly deteriorating) and 100 (very good, strongly improving). The neutral point is therefore 0. For the current situations this implicates a business cycle, which is neither positive nor negative. For the expected situation the value 0 indicates an unchanged situation towards the current situation. A positive number means that the share of optimists outweighs the share of pessimists and vice versa. The survey is conducted through the internet on the Friday and Saturday preceding the publication date. The indicator is usually published on the first Monday of the month.
The EURO STOXX 50 Index, Europe’s leading Blue-chip index for the Eurozone, provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone. The index covers 50 stocks from 11 Eurozone countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
The Nikkei 225, more commonly called the Nikkei, the Nikkei index, or the Nikkei Stock Average, is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) newspaper since 1950. It is a price-weighted index (the unit is yen), and the components are reviewed once a year. Currently, the Nikkei is the most widely quoted average of Japanese equities, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) is an index of 500 stocks seen as a leading indicator of U.S. equities and a reflection of the performance of the large cap universe, made up of companies selected by economists. The S&P 500 is a market value weighted index and one of the common benchmarks for the U.S. stock market. Copyright ©2017 RiverFront Investment Group. All rights reserved.