NODX makes unexpected turnaround in Sept

Singapore

A SURPRISE turnaround in non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in the closing month of the third quarter should dilute the return of fears of a technical recession when the final estimates for the July-to-September gross domestic product (GDP) are made.

NODX rose 0.3 per cent year on year in September, when the market had expected a fall of 3.9 per cent. The advance estimates for the third-quarter GDP growth rest on figures for the first two months of the quarter, and, with the key NODX data for September now in the bag, it is unlikely that the tentative GDP numbers released on Wednesday need to be adjusted.