The bears have said many times that the worst is yet to come but the world stock markets have been rallying for the last few days with Wall Street leading the way. They may dismissed it as a bear market rally or a dead cat bounce. Guess what? It was the CEO of Citi that started the ball rolling. Lesson learnt? You need someone to come up with some good news to turn the market around. I guess the same apply to the property market.
Sing reported the Feb. trade figures yesterday. It is not surprising that the response from the bears was muted because they were not worse than Jan. nos. Nobody pointed out that the trade nos and the economy were very strong in 1st quarter 08 so we are comparing with a very large number. Trade with China has gone up. Sing and China signed a FTA last year and took effect in Jan 09.
Are things looking up? Time will tell.
Wow... blinkers - check. Rose tinted glasses - check!
Singapore Exports Decline, Extending Longest Slump Since 2002
2009-03-17 05:00:01.5 GMT
By Shamim Adam
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore's exports fell for a 10th month
in February, as a collapse in global demand for electronics and
pharmaceuticals extended the longest slump in the nation's overseas
sales since 2002.
Non-oil domestic exports dropped 23.7 percent from a year earlier,
after contracting a revised 34.9 percent in January, the trade promotion
agency said in a statement today. Economists had expected a 27.8 percent
decline.
Singapore, the world's busiest container port, posted the biggest
drop in cargo-box traffic in at least 11 years last month, adding to
signs the nation is in its sharpest and deepest recession on record.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said this month the economy may contract as
much as 10 percent this year if exports continue the recent pace of
decline.
"With external demand still in limbo and the uncertainties
surrounding the global economy, the pain on the external front will last
for many more months to come," said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Bank
Ltd. in Singapore.
The global economy may shrink this year for the first time since
World War II, with trade dropping by the most since the Great
Depression, the World Bank said this month. Japan's exports tumbled 45.7
percent in January and China's plunged by a record 25.7 percent last
month as recessions in the U.S. and Europe smothered demand for Toyota
Motor Corp. Camry sedans and other Asian goods.
"We remain bearish on the exports outlook for Southeast Asian
economies, especially Singapore," said Alvin Liew, an economist at
Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. The 19.8 percent decline in
Singapore's February container traffic "adds to concern of a bleak
exports picture in the near term."
Electronics Drop
Non-oil domestic exports will plunge 17.5 percent this year,
according to a central bank survey of 20 economists released yesterday.
The government expects overseas shipments to fall as much as 11 percent
this year.
Singapore's non-oil exports rose a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent
last month from January, when they slid a revised 3.3 percent, today's
report showed. Economists had expected a 1.9 percent decline.
Electronics shipments plunged 31.9 percent in February from a year
earlier, the 25th consecutive drop, following a 38.4 percent decline in
January. Sales of electronics products by companies including Chartered
Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.
were worth S$3.46 billion ($2.3 billion) last month.
Non-electronics shipments, which include petrochemicals and
pharmaceuticals, fell 18.3 percent in February from a year earlier.
Pharmaceutical shipments dropped 23.4 percent.
