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SINGAPORE'S non-oil exports unexpectedly rose 1.6 per cent in April from March after seasonal adjustments, easing fears that Asian exports would plummet as the continent's key United States market teeters on recession.
April's rise compared with market expectations for a 0.5 per cent drop, and followed a 2.6 per cent fall in March when shipments to the United States fell at the sharpest rate in more than six years.
Non-oil exports in April rose 5.4 per cent from a year earlier to $14 billion, trade agency International Enterprise Singapore said in a statement on Friday. That compared with a 5.9 per cent fall in March, and with a median forecast in a Reuters poll for an annual drop of 0.5 per cent.
The Singapore economy is heavily dependent on trade, and non-oil domestic exports were worth three quarters of the city-state's gross domestic product last year.
Economists had expected monthly exports in April to fall 0.5 per cent as weakening demand in United States and Europe slowed shipments of key electronic goods.
April's electronics shipments fell 0.4 per cent from a year ago, with consumer electronics exports accelerating their decline to 31.3 per cent. Drugs exports fell 11.7 per cent in the same period. Petrochemicals climbed 15.2 per cent.
Singapore's non-oil domestic exports, which comprise of goods that have been manufactured in Singapore or undergone further processing, include mobile phones, medical instruments, and active ingredients for some blockbuster drugs. -- REUTERS
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