ASEAN PMI dips to 50.3 in September

Vietnam led the growth rankings.

Growth is slow but it's coming for ASEAN countries after the overall manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipped from 50.4 to 50.3 in September.

According to IHS Markit, this still signals a further improvement in the sector's health.

Better output and total new business drove the latest upturn.

However, only a slim majority of the countries actually improved operating conditions, falling from five in August to four in September.

Here's more from IHS Markit:

Vietnam continued to lead the overall growth rankings, and saw its PMI pick up to a five-month high during September.

The Philippines moved up the table to second position, though its pace of growth remained marginal overall.

Indonesia showed a further improvement in business conditions while Thailand returned to growth after showing deteriorations in the previous two months.

Having seen an improvement in the previous month, Malaysia reported broadly stagnant manufacturing conditions in September.

Singapore meanwhile slipped into contraction territory. Myanmar continued to signal weakening business conditions, although the rate of decline remained slight.