Singapore's external trade up 4.3 pct in January

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX), a key gauge of the export performance of the small and highly open economy, rose by 4.3 percent in January on year, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore said on Tuesday.

The gain was due to the rise in both electronic and non- electronic NODX, the agency said. On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX rose by 1.6 percent in January, in contrast to the previous month's 0.2 percent decrease.

On a yearly basis, electronic exports expanded by 5.0 percent in January, after the 0.4-percent growth in the previous month. The increase was largely due to parts of ICs, diodes and transistors and disk media products.

Non-electronic exports expanded by 4.0 percent on-year in January, following the 3.2-percent rise in the previous month, led by petrochemicals, pumps and non-electric engines and motors.

NODX to all of the top 10 markets, except the EU 28 and Malaysia, rose in January. The top three contributors to the NODX increase were China, Hong Kong of China and Taiwan of China.

NODX to the Chinese mainland rose by 4.5 percent in January, converting the 7.8-percent decline in the preceding month, mainly due to pumps, ICs and heating and cooling equipment, the agency said. Endi