Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (11855)	9/26/2003 1:47:44 AM
From: StanX Long	Respond to of 95530

Singapore manufacturing output surges 18% in Aug m/m sg.news.yahoo.com Friday September 26, 1:32 PM By Jacqueline Wong ADVERTISEMENT SINGAPORE, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Singapore's factory output was surprisingly strong in August, surging 17.8 percent from July following a leap in pharmaceutical output, government data showed on Friday. In the year to August, production climbed 10.3 percent, fuelled almost entirely by an expansion at pharmaceuticals companies where output jumped 78.4 percent from a year earlier, data from the Economic Development Board (EDB) showed. "It is definitely much stronger than expected. But it's actually not much of a surprise if you were to strip out the biomedical sector which almost doubled its output from last month," said Nizam Idris, economist at IDEAglobal.com Singapore's biomedical industry, a volatile sector, showed stunning growth with production up 68.5 percent from a year earlier, attributed to an increase in the use of high value added fine chemicals in patented drug production. "The surprise mainly comes from the pharmaceuticals. The estimate is that it probably contributed 24 percentage points to the overall increase," said Low Ping Yee, economist at United Overseas Bank. "The electronics sector is still inline with expectations for a modest recovery." Electronics, which make up the bulk or about 32 percent of manufacturing output, showed modest growth, in-line with disappointing August exports and despite a cyclical upturn in the United States, Singapore's top market for electronics. Production electronics rose 1.9 percent from a year earlier, led by a 19.3 percent rise in output of semiconductors. "It's encouraging to note the steady recovery that we are witnessing in electronics. We are getting into peak production period for the electronics sector," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at stockbrokers GK Goh. "it gives room for a little bit more optimism towards the third quarter GDP," he added. A median forecast in a Reuters poll of seven economists had called for factory output to rise 0.5 percent from July after adjustment for seasonal patterns. From a year earlier, production was expected to have fallen 3.3 percent, according to a median forecast of 10 institutions with estimates ranging widely from growth of four percent to minus six percent. After suffering its worst quarterly economic performance on record in the second quarter, Singapore is seeing a revival in services. But a recovery in exports and manufacturing has been uneven. The government has forecast the economy would grow between zero and one percent this year. Singapore's junior finance minister, Lim Hng Kiang, said in an interview published on Wednesday with the Business Times that annual growth this year would most likely be 0.5-0.7 percent, possibly accelerating to four percent next year.