KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's latest leading index showed the country's economic performance will remain moderate in the near term over uncertain global prospects, The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said on Monday.

The July index anticipated a modest economic performance with a better negative 0.9 percent, registering 109 points as compared to negative 2.1 percent in June, the DOSM said in a statement, adding that the improvement was supported by a significant increase in the number of housing units approved.

Nevertheless, the persistent decreases in the real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals and real imports of semiconductors influenced the overall growth.

Looking at the monthly performance, the leading index recorded negative 0.7 percent for the reference month compared to a negative 0.5 percent in the previous month.

In terms of the current economic situation, the coincident index recorded 123.5 points in July, increasing by 2.2 percent from 120.8 points in the same month of the previous year.

The monthly performance of the coincident index rebounded 0.2 percent as compared to a negative 0.9 percent in the previous month, driven by the volume index of retail trade. Enditem

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