Malaysia Oct factory output up 4.2% y-o-y, beats forecast

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's Oct industrial production rose by a stronger-than-expected 4.2 per cent from a year earlier, driven by growth in the electricity, manufacturing and mining sectors, government data showed on Friday.

That compared with 3.1 per cent growth in September, and was above the 3.3 per cent rise forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

Electricity output showed the strongest growth among all sectors at 6.9 per cent, data from the Statistics Department showed.

Malaysia's exports in October suffered their biggest drop in 18 months, falling 8.6 per cent, which the government said stemmed from a high base a year earlier.

A private manufacturing purchasing managers' index showed Malaysian factory activity in November contracted again, with new orders declining at the sharpest rate since mid-2012.

REUTERS