PMI rises to 50.7 in March

March marks the seven month of expansion.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.7 in March, marking a seventh consecutive month of expansion.

The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) attributed the increase to improvements in most indices.

Electronics PMI also improved in March, increasing by 0.4 points to 50.8, marking its fifth consecutive above-50 print.

Sub-indices in the electronics PMI, led by input purchases, which had a 50.9 reading, also expanded.

On the other hand, the S&P Global Singapore PMI slipped to 55.7 from 56.8 in February.

The firm, however, underscored that Singapore’s expansion rate remained strong in March.

“Demand conditions further improved in March with incoming new orders for Singaporean goods and services rising for a fifteenth straight month and at the fastest pace since May 2023. This led to private sector output expanding at the joint-fastest pace since October 2022. Companies in the wholesale & retail sector reported the fastest increases in both new orders and output among the monitored segments,” S&P Global said.

“Purchasing activity also expanded in accordance with the rise in new business and activity, thereby leading to a second successive month of input stocks accumulation. This marked only the second time that stocks of purchases expanded in nine months. Furthermore, the rate of growth was the fastest since July 2022 despite being modest overall,” the firm added.