Singapore’s retail sales growth eased at a slightly slower-than-expected pace in October, data published by the Department of Statistics revealed Tuesday.
Retail sales climbed 2.7 percent year-over-year in October, much slower than the 4.4 percent rise in the prior month. Economists had expected the growth to moderate to 2.6 percent.
The annual growth in October was mainly driven by a 61.8 percent jump in sales of motor vehicles. Excluding motor vehicles, retail trade fell 4.6 percent, faster than the 1.8 percent drop in September.
Sales at department stores increased 0.6 percent in October and that for supermarkets went up by 1.1 percent.
At the same time, sales of food and beverages plunged 11.7 percent and sales at petrol service stations dipped by 16.7 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent in October, reversing a 4.0 percent fall in the preceding month. The expected rate of increase was 1.7 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com