South African Leading Index Improves In March

(RTTNews) - South Africa's composite leading index strengthened for the third straight month in March, survey data from the South African Reserve Bank showed on Tuesday.

The composite leading index rose 2.4 percent month-on-month to 123.0 in March from 120.1 in February.

Six out of the seven available component time series outweighed the decrease in the composite leading business cycle indicator for South Africa's major trading-partner countries.

The largest positive contributors were acceleration in the six-month smoothed growth rate in the real M1 money supply and a widening of the interest rate spread.

The coincident indicator remained stable at 95.0 in February, while the lagging index increased to 105.9 from 105.3.