The Malaysian Leading Index (LI) remained in a positive growth by recording 1.5 per cent in October 2024, reaching 111.1 points as compared to 109.5 points in the same month of the previous year.
The Department of Statistics said the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index demonstrated a robust performance with 27.9 percent, positioning it as the main contributor to the rise. In contrast, the monthly performance of LI showed a marginal decline of 0.4 per cent as four out of seven components slipped, particularly the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index and Real Imports of Semi Conductors, each of which declined by 0.3 per cent.
Looking at the smoothed long-term trend in October 2024, DOSM said the LI began trending below 100.0 points, suggesting that the Malaysian economy is anticipated to remain growing albeit moderately in the upcoming months of 2025. Internal factors such as robust domestic demand and a positive labour market trend are expected to support the economic prospects.
Meanwhile, the Coincident Index (CI), which measures the current economic performance, recorded an annual increase of 1.7 per cent, reaching 126.4 points as compared to 124.3 points in the same month of the preceding year. The incline aligns with the encouraging performance of the Real Contributions, EPF (6.8%) and the Volume Index of Retails Trade (5.0%). At the same time, the CI's monthly performance also increased by 0.6 per cent in October 2024, after declining by 0.7 per cent in the previous month, with increases recorded across all components.
The Diffusion Index for LI slowed to 28.6 per cent in October 2024, declined from 42.9 per cent in the previous month. Meanwhile, the Diffusion Index for CI showed an increase to 83.3 per cent as compared to 66.7 per cent in the previous month.
