This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 28, 2026 - October 4, 2026
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was granted a conditional pardon by the King on Sept 18, allowing him to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest. In the coming week, the focus is likely to turn to whether he can meet the condition that he must first pay an outstanding fine of RM50 million.
This week will also see the Department of Statistics Malaysia releasing data for the Producer Price Index (PPI) — Local Production for August 2026; Export Import Statistics for August 2026; External Trade Indices for August 2026 — all on Sept 28; followed by data on Supply and Utilization Accounts for Selected Agricultural Commodities in 2025 and Business Demography in 2025, on Sept 29.
On Oct 1, the S&P Global Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for September will be released. The reading for August stood at 50.2 slowing from 50.7 in July.
Across the Causeway, Singapore’s most important data release will be the August Industrial Production (IP) on Sept 28 (Monday), for which Bloomberg estimates a year-on-year increase of 18.1%.
The end of September brings the bank loans and money supply data for August on Sept 30, noted UOB Global Economics & Markets Research economist Alvin Liew in a Sept 25 report. “At the start of the new month, the market’s focus will be on Oct 1’s release of the preliminary third-quarter 2026 (3Q2026) Urban Redevelopment Authority private home price index and the official PMI for September on Oct 2.”
In addition, Liew says the confirmation of the release date of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) together with the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s (MTI) issue of the advance 3Q gross domestic product (GDP) data in the upcoming week may be made known.
“As MAS typically announces the MPS release date seven days in advance and the MPS is expected to be released no later than Oct 14 (according to the advance release calendar on the MAS website), MAS may announce the MPS date during the week of Sept 29 to Oct 2,” notes Liew. “If no announcement is made by Friday (Oct 2), then the October MPS will be released between Oct 12 and 14. We think the October MPS and the advance 3Q GDP will be released on Oct 14, like last year.”
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will have a monetary policy decision on Sept 29 (Tuesday), with all 23 analysts on Bloomberg (including UOB economist Lee Sue Ann) polled expecting the RBA to hike its cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.6% in September.
“While Sue Ann expects the RBA to raise the cash rate to 4.60% on Sept 29 following the stronger-than-expected 2Q2026 GDP report, the softer August labour market backdrop argues against an extended tightening cycle beyond September, unless inflationary pressure proves more persistent than expected. Later in the week, RBA will release its latest Financial Stability Review report on Oct 1,” says Liew.
Key economic data releases this week include China’s PMIs, South Korea’s September trade, Vietnam’s 3Q GDP and September Consumer Price Index (CPI) from several economies.
China’s September official data on manufacturing, non-manufacturing PMI and RatingDog manufacturing PMI will be released on Sept 30. South Korea will be the first to release its September external trade data on Oct 1, while Vietnam will likely be the first economy in Asia and the world to release its 3Q GDP, on Oct 3, alongside other September monthly economic variables including CPI, trade data, trade deficit, IP and retail sales.
Other CPI data releases from the region include Indonesia on Oct 1, followed by South Korea on Oct 2; the Philippines will release its August trade data and trade deficit figures on Sept 30. The August trade data for Thailand will be on Sept 30, followed by Indonesia and Australia the next day.
Japan’s key data include PPI services on Sept 28; August IP on Sept 30; 3Q2026 Tankan Survey on Oct 1 as well as August jobless rate data on Oct 2.
Over in the US, its corporate earnings reporting season will see a quiet start this week with only six S&P 500 companies among 337 US companies reporting.
Also of interest will be the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, job openings, quits and layoffs for July and Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey for September on Sept 29.
There are also the ADP employment change for September, third print of 2Q2026 GDP, August Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, August personal income, and advance trade balance for August on Sept 30; August construction spending, ISM manufacturing for September, weekly Initial Jobless Claims on Oct 1 and US Omdia Total Vehicle Sales for September (Oct 1 and 2); followed by August factory orders and US September Labor Market Report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Oct 2.
On the domestic corporate front, Bursa Malaysia-listed LYC Healthcare Bhd (KL:LYC) will hold its annual general meeting on Sept 28 while IOI Properties Group Bhd (KL:IOIPG) will hold its extraordinary general meeting on Sept 30.
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