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S. Korea's manufacturing sentiment falls to 6-month low

Xinhua, December 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Confidence among South Korean manufacturers over economic conditions fell to the lowest in six months due to a plunge in global oil prices, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The business sentiment index (BSI) for manufacturers fell 1 point from a month earlier to 67 in December, logging the lowest since June when the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak hit hardest, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The reading below 100 means pessimists outnumbered optimists. The sentiment kept a downward trend for two months in a row.

The downward move came as cheaper oil affected negatively earnings and orders for shipbuilders and oil refiners.

Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, hovered around 40 U.S. dollars a barrel in late November, tumbling to 32 dollars between Dec. 15 and 22 when the BOK survey was conducted.

The BSI for non-manufacturers stood at 70 in December, unchanged from the previous month.

Both manufacturers and non-manufacturers picked sluggish private consumption, uncertain economic conditions and cutthroat competition as key difficulties in doing business. Endit