KUALA LUMPUR, Mac 1 (NNN-BERNAMA) – The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), was 49.5 in Feb, up from 49 in Jan, signalled a slight deterioration in business conditions, that was the softest since the current sequence of decline began in Sept, 2022.
S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a statement today that, the historical relationship between the PMI and official data suggests that both gross domestic product (GDP) and manufacturing production are set to trend upwards, and improve modestly in the first quarter of 2024.
S&P Global Market Intelligence economist, Usamah Bhatti, said, the latest PMI suggests that firms began to see demand conditions turn a corner during Feb.
He said that, there were only slight moderation in output, total new orders and exports as firms mentioned pockets of demand building up in the manufacturing sector.
“Further encouragement came from a broad stabilisation in backlogs of work, a sign that capacity pressures were also starting to build,” he said.
At the same time, he noted, employment levels were broadly unchanged, as efforts to reduce costs by lowering headcount were offset by the hiring of new full-time staff.
He also said, there were indications of a pick-up in cost inflation in Feb, but it was far removed from the pace recorded in the three years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In fact, firms raised their selling prices only slightly over the month, amid reports that some manufacturers reduced charges in an attempt to stimulate sales,” he added.– NNN-BERNAMA
