KUALA LUMPUR, The continued rise in Malaysia's Leading Index (LI) indicates that positive momentum in the country's economy is likely to persist in the second half (2H) of 2024, MIDF Research said. 'This supports our recent upward revision of 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 5.0 per cent as we foresee the national economic growth will continue to be supported by growing domestic spending and recovery in the external trade activity,' it said in a note today. Malaysia's LI increased by 3.5 per cent year-on-year (yoy) in June 2024, slightly below the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in May 2024, marking the seventh consecutive month of expansion. This growth was largely driven by a rise in the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index. 'However, the LI declined by 0.7 per cent month-on-month (mom) in June, the second consecutive monthly contraction, due to declines across all LI components from May 2024, except for the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index and real money supply, M1,' it said. Meanwhile, th e Coincident Index (CI) accelerated by 2.6 per cent yoy in June 2024, primarily due to an 8.5 per cent yoy increase in real contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and a 6.4 per cent yoy rise in the volume index of retail trade. 'The CI also recorded a 0.2 per cent mom increase, with all components contributing positively except for capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector,' the research firm added. Source: BERNAMA News Agency