The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 49.5 in February, up from 49 in January, signaled a slight deterioration in business conditions that was the softest since the current sequence of decline began in September 2022. S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a statement on Friday 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 February.—Xinhua
