Singapore industrial production rises in September, beats market expectations

Industrial production in Singapore rose during the month of September, beating market expectations and led by solid increases in electronics and pharmaceuticals output.

Singapore’s manufacturing output rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier in September, data released by the Singapore Economic Development Board showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Reuters survey was for an expansion of 0.6 percent.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, factory output grew 3.3 percent in September, defying expectations of a contraction of 2.6 percent. The 6.7 per cent growth comes in the wake of a 0.5 per cent year-on-year growth in August and a 3.4 per cent year-on-year contraction in July.

"It remains to be seen whether Sept firm industrial production print (particularly electronics) can hold up in the absence of a sustained pick up in G3 capex once the regional tech impulse (from the recent smartphone launches) fade," said Weiwen Ng, Economist, ANZ Research.

Meanwhile, given the still-subdued external outlook, today's strong industrial production print can be seen as an aberration, rather than a precursor of firmer prints ahead, he added.