Singapore January exports up 4.6 percent, beat forecasts

Workers looking as a container ship is unloaded at a berth in a PSA International port terminal in Singapore·Reuters

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's exports rose 4.6% in January on a month-on-month basis, versus analysts' forecasts for a contraction, as both electronic and non-electronic shipments increased, official data showed on Monday.

Economists had forecast a 4.5% drop in exports on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, after a revised rise of 1.0% in December.

Non-oil domestic exports from the city-state contracted 3.3% year-on-year in January, data from trade agency Enterprise Singapore showed, following a 2.4% expansion in December. The median forecast in a Reuters poll was for a 5.5% decline.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie in Singapore; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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