• Malaysia’s manufacturing PMI rises to 7-month high

• Global manufacturing PMI dropped to 50.3

• US manufacturing activities decelerates

• Eurozone manufacturing activities continues to contract

• UK manufacturing activities slips in April

• China’s PMIs lose in momentum

• Japan manufacturing PMI steep downturn extends into April

• ASEAN manufacturing PMI improves in April

Malaysia’s manufacturing PMI rises to 7-month high

Malaysia’s Nikkei manufacturing PMI rose markedly to reach a seven-month high in April amid a return to growth for export orders. Manufacturing PMI rose in April to its highest since September 2018, recording 49.4 compared to 47.2 in March to return to its long-run average. Key to the upturn in the PMI was a renewed improvement in foreign demand in April, which had weakened business trends in prior months. New export orders rose for the first time in five months. The increase in export sales helped drive the overall new orders index up by some 3.6 points to its highest since last September, its largest rise for ten months. The output index jumped 1.9 point, its largest rise for almost one-and-a-half years, reaching its highest since last October. Business confidence for the year-ahead outlook rose to its highest level since October 2013, with optimism towards domestic and key export markets supporting the pick-up in sentiment. Meanwhile, according to HIS Markit, analysis of comparable historical official data on Malaysian manufacturing output suggests that, at current levels, the survey’s output index signals annual production growth of approximately 4.5%.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 3 May 2019