Malaysia Leading Economic Rebounds in October

In October 2025, Malaysia's leading economic index saw a notable increase of 2.6% month-on-month, reversing a 0.5% decline observed in September and ending a three-month streak of decreases. Among the index’s seven components, two showed rebound: housing units approved rose by 0.5%, recovering from a 0.8% fall in September, and real imports of other basic precious and non-ferrous metals climbed by 1.8% compared to a previous 0.6% decline. Additionally, real semiconductor imports grew at a faster rate of 0.5% up from 0.3%, and the real money supply maintained its upward trend, though slightly slower at 0.1% as opposed to 0.3% earlier. However, there were downturns in expected manufacturing sales value, which decreased slightly from -0.1% to -0.1%, new company registrations held steady at -0.1% compared to a marginal rise of 0.002% previously, and the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index fell by 0.1%, reversing a previous increase of 0.4%. On an annual basis, the index increased by 3.6%, up from a 0.8% increase in the preceding month. Meanwhile, the coincident index, reflecting current economic conditions, also rose by 0.6%, following a prior gain of 0.2% in September.