A Look at Indonesia’s Manufacturing PMI in September 2017

According to a report by Markit Economics, Indonesia’s (IDX) (ASEA) manufacturing activity stood at 50.4 in September 2017 compared to 50.7 in August 2017. It was a marginal fall, but it kept the economy in the expansion zone for September. A level above 50 indicates expansion in economic activity, and a level below 50 indicates contraction.

Indonesia’s manufacturing PMI in September was affected mainly by the following factors:

• Production output and volume improved at a slower rate in September 2017 compared to August 2017.
• New orders and export orders rose at a higher pace, which shows that client demand rose.
• Employment in the manufacturing sector improved at a marginally lower rate.

An improvement in international (ACWI) (VTI) demand helped Indonesia’s export orders. Among the emerging economies (EEM), Indonesia is playing an important role. The structural changes and major reforms in its economy are the main factors driving investor sentiment.

The VanEck Vectors Indonesia ETF (IDX), which tracks the performance of Indonesia, fell 1.6% in September 2017. The Global X FTSE Southeast Asia ETF (ASEA), which tracks the performance of Southeast Asia, rose 1.6% in September 2017.

In the next part of this series, we’ll look at the performance of Mexico’s manufacturing PMI in September 2017.