SINGAPORE - Local business sentiment improved for the fifth consecutive quarter, hitting a two-year high in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Similar to the previous quarter, indicators of sales volume, net profit, selling price, new orders and employment level stayed expansionary. Meanwhile, inventory level rebounded to 0 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2024 from -1.48 percentage points in the quarter before. Year on year, both sales volume and net profit climbed to 7.41 percentage points in the fourth quarter 2024, from 3.73 percentage points and 2.24 percentage points, respectively.
Selling price fell to 6.67 percentage points in fourth quarter 2024 from 11.19 percentage points in the year before, while employment level dipped to 5.93 percentage points in the latest quarter from 7.46 percentage points in the prior year.