South African Leading Index Falls In September

(RTTNews) - South Africa's composite leading index decreased for the first time in four months in September, survey data from the South African Reserve Bank showed on Tuesday.

The composite leading index dropped 1.2 percent month-on-month to 114.2 in September from 115.5 in August.

Compared to a year ago, the index rose 1.1 percent, though slower than the 3.7 percent increase in the prior month.

In September, four of the seven available component time series outweighed increases in the other three components, the survey said.

The largest positive contributors were an increase in South Africa's US-dollar-denominated export commodity price index and acceleration in the six-month smoothed growth rate in the real M1 money supply.

Data showed that the coincident index rose slightly to 96.0 in August from 95.9 in the prior month.

Meanwhile, the lagging indicator dropped to 106.2 in August from 107.1 in the previous month.