FX.co ★ Singapore Manufacturing Sentiment Turns Negative

In the first quarter of 2025, business confidence within Singapore's manufacturing sector declined significantly to -6, a drop from +16 the previous quarter, indicating a resurgence of pessimism—unseen since the fourth quarter of 2022. This downturn is primarily attributed to a weaker business outlook anticipated over the coming six months in crucial segments, including biomedical manufacturing (-8), electronics (-9), and chemicals (-22). In contrast, the transport engineering sector emerged as the most optimistic, registering a confidence level of +14, largely propelled by positive sentiments in the aerospace industry, where firms foresee sustained strong demand due to increased global and regional air travel. Sentiments remained marginally positive in sectors like general manufacturing (+4) and precision engineering (+2). Furthermore, output expectations for the second quarter have turned positive (+2 compared to -15 in the previous quarter), although employment forecasts showed a slight decrease in optimism (+2 versus +4 previously).