Malaysian Leading Index Rises In January

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's leading index continued to improve in January, indicating that the economy remains on a positive trajectory, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

The leading index for Malaysia, which measures future economic activity, improved by 0.4 percent annually to 112.5 in January from 112.1 in December.

The double-digit increases in the real imports of semiconductors and the number of housing units approved were the contributors to this rise.

In contrast, the monthly performance of the leading index showed a decrease of 1.2 percent as five out of seven components declined, mainly due to the real imports of other basic precious & other non-ferrous metals.

The coincident index saw a slight rise of 0.1 percent with 124.8 points as compared to 124.7 points in the same month a year ago.