Singapore's whole economy PMI at its highest since January 2015

It expanded for the 16th consecutive month and hit 53.2 in August.

Singapore’s whole economy PMI surged from 51.3 in July to 53.2 in August, the highest since January 2015 and also marked the 16th consecutive month of expansion.

According to OCBC, this suggested that a broadening growth base could see the Singapore economy potentially surprising on the upside for the rest of 2017. The output gauge rose from 52.7 to 55.5 (highest since November 2016) amid higher new orders and signs that domestic demand was pulling ahead of overseas demand, especially for industries like industrial metals, transport services and the improving resale housing market.

Here's more from OCBC:

Business confidence for the 12-months ahead hit a near-1.5 year high, and purchasing activity has picked up accordingly. Still, employment levels fell for the third straight month in August amidst reduced hiring of part-time staff which in turn contributed to rising backlogs of work.

Nonetheless, higher input price inflation coupled with rising wages did not deter firms from giving promotional price discounts to bolster sales, and this likely implies margin compression. Output prices actually fell for the first time since June 2016.