Singapore's external trade down

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX), a key gauge of the export performance of the small and highly open economy, declined 8.4 percent in August on a year-on-year basis, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore said on Thursday.

The 8.4 percent slide of NODX in August, following by a 0.7 percent decrease in the previous month, was due to the contraction in both electronic and non-electronic NODX, said IE.

NODX declined by 4.6 percent in August on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, compared to the previous month's 2.5 percent expansion, Xinhua news agency reported.

The trade promotion agency said that electronic NODX declined by 2.7 percent in August year-on-year, compared to the 2.5 percent increase in the previous month.

Non-electronic NODX decreased by 10.6 percent in August, following a 2.0 percent decline in the previous month. The contraction in non-electronic NODX was led by petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and structures of ships and boats.