Singapore's retail sales down 0.5%

Singapore's retail sales in April fell 0.5 percent year on year, the Department of Statistics said on Friday. The contraction was smaller than expected. The retail sales grew by a marginal 0.2 percent after excluding motor vehicles. Retailers of telecommunications apparatus and computers recorded the largest drop, with sales dipping 8.4 percent. Petrol service stations, wearing apparel and footwear, motor vehicles and furniture and household equipment also registered declines of between 2.5 percent and 4.9 percent. Retail sales of watches and jewellery, food and beverages and supermarkets recorded increases of between 4.4 percent and 5 percent. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales increased 5.3 percent in April. Excluding motor vehicles, it went down 0.9 percent.