Asia continues to feel the brunt of the slowdown in economic activity, with Malaysia's manufacturing sector contracting for the second consecutive month in October.
Looking at data released by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Malaysia's manufacturing PMI index dropped to 48.7 from 49.1 recorded in September.
A reading below 50 indicates contraction, while anything above that number indicates expansion.
The main factors behind this decline were sluggish global market conditions and weak customer demand.
At the same time, new orders also fell for a second month, with demand from abroad easing from a strengthening in 16 months.
A decline was also seen in employment following an increase recorded in the previous month.
In fact, this slowdown is not only seen in Malaysia but also in several other Asian countries including South Korea, Taiwan and China.
The fall was most pronounced in Taiwan where the manufacturing PMI index plunged to 41.5 in October from 42.2, marking the weakest reading since January 2009.
Meanwhile in South Korea, manufacturing activity recorded a contraction for the fourth month in a row although it slightly increased last month with a record of 48.2.
China also saw a fall in manufacturing last month due to COvid-19 control measures that weighed on production and demand.
