Singapore PMI likely contracted for a fifth consecutive month

Singapore will release the April PMI on 4 May. The headline reading is expected to have eased to 49.5 from 49.6 in March and to have remained below the neutral 50 mark for a fifth consecutive month. 

The electronics index also likely fell to 49.9 from 50.1 in March. Business sentiment towards new export orders and production is expected to have been adversely affected by the economic slowdown in China and headwinds in the US. 

The negative PMI reading likely implies further downside risks for industrial production, which contracted 2.7% y/y in Q1 and 1.2% in Q4-2014.