The Leading Index, which provides an early signal of the direction that the economy is heading, fell by 2.7% mom in April, compared with +3.7% in March. This was the fourth decline in five months due to declines in industrial material price index (-0.7%), the number of new companies registered (-0.6%), the number of housing permits approved (-0.5%), the ratio of price to unit labour cost in the manufacturing sector (-0.4%), trade with eight major trading partners (-0.4%), money supply (-0.2%) and CPI for services (-0.1%; inverted) as well as a slowdown in the Bursa Malaysia Industrial index (+0.1%). The broad-based drop in economic indicators caused the leading index’s six-month smoothed growth rate to slow down sharply to 3.9% in April, from +11.2% in March (see Chart 1). This was the slowest increase in about a year, signalling that the economy will likely grow at a more moderate pace in 2H 2010.
Economic Highlights :Leading Index Slowed Down In April, Pointing To A More Moderate Economic Growth In 2H ...
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