Singapore's Dec exports rebound after nine months of contraction

SINGAPORE, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's exports made a surprise rebound in December after nine months of contraction, partly due to a sharp rise in pharmaceutical shipments, official data showed on Friday.

Non-oil domestic exports from the city-state expanded 2.4% year-on-year in December, data from trade agency Enterprise Singapore showed, following a 5.9% decline in November.

This was significantly better than the 1.8% decline predicted by economists in a Reuters poll.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, exports expanded 1.1% in December after growing 5.8% in November. The poll had called for a 1.3% contraction from the month before. (Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)