Singapore's services sector dips 0.6% in 2Q12

Guess which sector is expected to provide modest support to growth?

According to OCBC, the pull-back in growth was mainly due to decline in externally-oriented sectors such as electronics manufacturing, wholesale trade and tourism-related sectors.

Here's more from OCBC:

Manufacturing contracted 0.5% QoQ after 1Q12’s 20.8% expansion, while construction growth also decelerated to 0.9% QoQ from 1Q12’s 27.9% increase.

As for services, growth was a negative 0.6% in 2Q12 compared to 2.9% expansion in the previous quarter. Given the subdued global economic conditions, Singapore’s growth outlook remains cautious.

However the transport engineering cluster and construction sector is expected to provide modest support to growth. Barring unforeseen shocks, the MTI expects the Singapore economy to expand by 1.5-2.5% in 2012, versus an earlier 1.0-3.0% guidance.