Chart of the Day: Is there any upside to Singapore’s uninspiring business conditions?

Firms’ purchasing activity is down in the dumps.

There’s little upside to Singapore’s uninspiring business outlook, as the number of incoming new businesses has taken a hit.

After recording a seven-month high of 51.4 in September, Singapore’s Nikkei manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 in October.

According to a statement by Nikkei, the underlying weakness of market conditions was highlighted by firms’ purchasing activity, which fell for the sixth time in the last nine months.

“The latest decline, though modest overall, led to a ninth successive monthly contraction in input inventories. Overall input prices continued to rise in October,” Nikkei said.

Meanwhile, the rate of inflation was steady from September’s seven-month high, but is still weak in context.

“This mainly reflected a further modest rise in purchasing prices following a three-month sequence of reductions between June and August. In contrast, average labour costs rose solidly, and at a rate that was in line with the 39-month series history,” the statement said.

“Private sector firms in Singapore continued to raise prices for goods and services in October. The rate of inflation was in line with the long-run survey average, but only modest overall,” it added.