Malaysian business confidence inches up for Q3

But optimism towards construction and mining sectors contract.

The show goes on in Malaysia after its Business Optimism Index (BOI) for Q3 rose to +3.07 from +3.40 last quarter, according to Dun & Bradstreet's (D&B) study.

The BOI used six indicators including volume of sales, net profits, selling price, inventory level, employees and new orders.

Three out of six indicators showed decline on a QoQ basis. Net profits points fell from -3.48 to -3.88, selling price tumbled from +10.95 to +2.91, whilst inventory levels dropped from +4.98 to +4.85.

Meanwhile, scores for volume of sales, new orders, and employment levels all rose at +2.99, +3.48, and +3.88 respectively.

The services, transportation, and agriculture sectors showed the most optimism. Meanwhile, construction and mining sectors showed dismal outlook for the next quarter.

Employment levels in the services sector jumped from +1.3 to +5.13 points, whilst net profits, even if they were contractionary, climbed from -5.2 to -1.28 points.

Whilst five indicators dipped for the transportation sector, these were offset by the rise of points for new orders, from +5.0 to +9.52.

Meanwhile, the agriculture sector's employment levels crashed from +80.0 to 0 points but its four other indicators went up.