KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s leading index (LI) contraction narrowed by 0.2 per cent year-on-year to 109.2 points in October 2023 from 109.4 points in October 2022, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

       LI is a tool utilised for predicting economic trends four to six months ahead.

       DoSM attributed the decline to the contraction in the real imports of semiconductors (-33.6 per cent), which demonstrated negative performance for 10 consecutive months.

       In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said at the same time, there were increases in the number of housing units approved (40 per cent) and number of new companies registered (23.4 per cent).

       CLICK TO ENLARGE"Looking at the monthly performance, the decline in LI narrowed to -0.2 per cent from -0.3 per cent in the previous month, fuelled by the real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals (0.5 per cent) and number of new companies registered (0.3 per cent),” he said.

       However, the decline in real imports of semiconductors (-1.0 per cent) affected the overall growth.

       At the same time, the Coincident Index (CI) continued its positive growth since September 2021 at 124.1 points, up by 2.9 per cent year-on-year.

       StarPicks

       TikTok Shop calls on Malaysians to support homegrown brands with #JOMLokal

       This performance was contributed by all components, mainly the Real Contributions, Employees Provident Fund (17.1 per cent).

       Simultaneously, the CI monthly change registered an increase of 0.3 per cent, supported by all components except the Volume Index of Retail Trade (-0.3 per cent). - Bernama