South Korea's July factory output rebounds, focus turns to trade

South Korea's industrial output unexpectedly grew in July but the improvement was mainly due to temporary factors, spurring investors to hone in on trade data out on Thursday for further clues on the health of the economy.

In monthly terms, industrial output rose 1.4 per cent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis as production of electronic components and cars boosted activity, data showed on Wednesday.

The median forecast in a Reuters survey of analysts was for output to decline 0.6 per cent from June. June's reading was revised down to minus 0.4 per cent from minus 0.2 per cent estimated earlier.

"We think the bounces in confidence and in IP growth are noise rather than signal and that IP growth remains essentially flat and services are growing around 3 per cent," said Tim Condon, economist at ING. "If IP and services remain at their July level in the remainder of the quarter, we estimate third-quarter growth at 3.0 per cent."Click Here To Register For Free Trial Services OR Give A Missed Call : +6531581402 Follow Us On Twitter : www.twitter.com/epicresearchsg Like Us On Facebook : www.facebook.com/EpicResearchSingapore Need Any Assistance Feel Free To Mail Us at : info@epicresearch.sg