Singapore exports seen recovering in April, up 5.4 percent: Reuters poll

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Singapore's non-oil domestic exports were expected to recover in April after a two consecutive months of decline, a Reuters poll found on Monday.

Non-oil domestic exports were expected to have risen 5.4 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the median forecast in the survey of 10 economists.

The upturn was seen likely to come from exports of the city-state's tech products.

"Tech demand is the main driver of Singapore's export

performance," Moody's said in a research note to clients, warning of the "downside risk" from a U.S.-China trade dispute affecting Singapore's export outlook.

"Singapore is at the whim of global demand," Moody's said.

 

Booming demand has benefited Singapore and other trade-dependent Asian economies in the past year, particularly makers of electronics products and components such as semiconductors, but growth has started to moderate this year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil domestic exports were seen down 0.2 percent from March, the poll found, which would be the third consecutive monthly decline.

In March Singapore's exports fell both year-on-year and month-on-month, by 2.7 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.

(Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Eric Meijer)