Singapore factory output grows at fastest pace in nearly 2 years

Singapore's industrial production in April grew at the fastest pace in nearly two years thanks to healthy output of electronics and pharmaceuticals, but analysts remain wary over the outlook due to sluggish global demand.
Manufacturing output rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier in April, the largest increase since August 2014, data from the Singapore Economic Development Board showed on Thursday. The median forecast in a Reuters survey was a contraction of 0.3 percent.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, factory output rose 4.8 percent in April, exceeding the median forecast of an increase of 0.8 percent.

"If you look at some leading indicators such as the US semiconductor book-to-bill ratio, I think there is some potential for the electronics sector to continue to cushion some of the other more sluggish sectors," said Jeff Ng, an economist for Standard Chartered Bank.

"Given that a lot of the world demand is still pretty sluggish, there will be some pockets of growth in some sectors but I don't see a broad-based recovery... It'll be at best I guess stabilisation," he added.