Singapore’s industrial production in December declined by 13.3% month-on-month, performing better than the predicted 15.2% decrease. This outcome demonstrates ongoing challenges within Singapore’s manufacturing sector, influenced by global supply chain issues and economic uncertainties.<\/p>\n
The manufacturing sector’s status is being closely followed, given its role in the economy. The deviation from predictions suggests some resilience, yet overall trends remain troubling.<\/p>\n
Globally, the economic environment is affected by factors like geopolitical tensions, trade wars, and changes in monetary policy. As nations address these issues, patterns may emerge that affect future economic forecasts.<\/p>\n
At the end of last year, we saw Singapore\u2019s industrial production fall by 13.3%, a severe drop but still better than the 15.2% decline that was expected. This slight outperformance suggested a floor might be forming in the hard-hit manufacturing sector. It created a base for cautious optimism as we entered the new year.<\/p>\n
Recent flash manufacturing PMI data for January seems to support this, coming in at 49.8, a notable improvement from the 47.5 we saw in December 2025. While still indicating a slight contraction, this momentum shift suggests the worst of the decline may be behind us. Traders should be watching for a potential trough in economic activity.<\/p>\n
The electronics cluster, a key driver of local industry, is also showing life, as global semiconductor sales for December posted their first monthly increase in half a year. This has provided support for the Singapore dollar, with the USD\/SGD pair pulling back from its late 2025 highs around 1.3800. The reduced fear is being reflected in lower implied volatility for SGD options.<\/p>\n
Given this backdrop, we should consider strategies that benefit from stabilization rather than a sharp rebound. Bull call spreads on the Straits Times Index (STI) offer a defined-risk way to position for modest upside over the next few weeks. Alternatively, selling out-of-the-money puts on resilient industrial stocks could be a way to collect premium, capitalizing on the view that a further major collapse is now less likely.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Singapore’s manufacturing shrinks 13.3% in December, beating forecasts; global uncertainties continue to impact sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":16991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}