This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 24, 2025 - November 30, 2025

The week ahead is packed with major economic data releases across Malaysia, Singapore and Asia-Pacific, and critical monetary policy decisions, while global attention turns to the G20 summit in South Africa.

Still, locally, the 17th Sabah state election on Nov 29 is the highlight of the week for Malaysia. A total of 596 candidates and 24 political parties are contesting for the 73 seats up for grabs. Considering that the previous state polls in 2020 had far fewer candidates numbering 447, there appears to be more at stake this time around.

On the economic front, a slew of data will be released this week. This includes the Malaysian Economic Indicators: Leading, Coincident and Lagging Indexes for September 2025 and Manufacturing Industry Capacity Utilisation Statistics for 3Q2025 on Nov 25.

A day later, the Malaysia Digital Economy 2025 is slated for release while the Producer Price Index for Local Production for October and the 4Q Business Tendency Statistics will be made available from Nov 27. Malaysia External Trade Indices for October, National Economic Accounts of Malaysia 2023 and Malaysian Economic Statistics Review (Vol 11/2025) are slated for release on Nov 28.

On the local court front, the merits of an application by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over a purported royal addendum will be heard before High Court judge Alice Loke throughout the week.

The listing of plastic manufacturer Polymer Link Holdings Bhd on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia is slated on Nov 25. Also ACE Market-bound is Foodie Media Bhd, mainly involved in digital media publishing, on Nov 28 (Friday).

On Nov 25 (Tuesday), Taghill Holdings Bhd (KL:TAGHILL) and Harn Len Corp Bhd (KL:HARNLEN) will hold their annual general meetings (AGMs) while Media Prima Bhd’s (KL:MEDIA) will be on Nov 27.

Japan will celebrate its Labour Thanksgiving holiday on Nov 24. It will also be a short week for US financial markets, given the closure on Nov 27 (Thursday) for Thanksgiving and shorter operating hours on Friday.

In Singapore, key data releases on Nov 24 will be the October CPI inflation, with Bloomberg estimates at 0.7% year on year and UOB estimates at 0.9% y-o-y. Both Bloomberg and UOB estimate core inflation at 0.4% y-o-y from 2.8% in September. Singapore’s October industrial production will be available on Nov 26 and the October money supply, deposits and loans data will be released on Nov 28.

There are two major monetary policy decisions this week — Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) on Nov 26 and Bank of Korea (BoK) on Nov 28. For RBNZ, a Bloomberg poll of 11 out of 12 analysts surveyed expect RBNZ to cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.25% while one analyst expects RBNZ to be on hold at 2.5%. UOB economist Lee Sue Ann also expects a 25bps cut due to a stalling economy and weakening labour market.

All seven analysts, including UOB’s Ho Woei Chen, expect BoK to keep the policy rate unchanged at 2.5%. Ho noted the growth pick-up further reduces the prospect of a rate cut in November, when BoK will hold its last rate meeting for the year. BoK had stayed on hold for the third consecutive meeting in October, primarily driven by concerns over financial stability amid a rebound in South Korea’s property prices. Whether BoK will resume its rate cut will need to take into consideration the financial stability conditions, including the property market and the South Korean won, according to Ho.

The G20 Leaders’ Summit will be held in South Africa for the first time on Nov 22 and 23. US President Donald Trump will not be attending, nor will any US government officials citing “human rights abuses” taking place in the country. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be represented by Premier Li Qiang.

Other key Asia-Pacific data ahead are India’s 3Q2025 gross domestic product (GDP) and October industrial production on Nov 28, and Taiwan’s October industrial production on Nov 25 and its final 3Q GDP on Nov 29. China’s industrial profits for October will be released on Nov 27 while its official manufacturing services PMI surveys for November will be made available on Nov 30. Australia’s October CPI, to be released on Nov 26 with Bloomberg estimates of 3.5% y-o-y, is unchanged from September.

Two hundred and eleven US-listed companies will be reporting earnings this week, 11 of which are S&P 500 companies, with a focus on tech companies.

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