Sentiment in the manufacturing sector appears to be becoming more positive, but the opposite is true of the services sector, according to a recent survey by the Economic Development Board (EDB), a government agency. A net weighted balance of 20% of the 400-odd manufacturing firms polled in December and January said that trading conditions in the first half of 2011 would be better than in the fourth quarter of last year; only a net weighted 3% of respondents to the EDB's previous survey, which was conducted in August and September, had expected trading conditions to improve. Around 27% of respondents to the latest survey said that conditions would improve in January-June 2011 relative to October-December 2010, while only 7% expected conditions to worsen. Most respondents (66%) said that conditions would remain unchanged. Transport engineering firms were the most upbeat, with a net weighted 55% of such companies expecting conditions to improve in the first half of 2011, followed by electronics (14%), chemicals (12%), biomedical (10%) and general manufacturing firms (10%). The most downbeat respondents were precision-engineering firms, with a net weighted balance of only 9% expecting conditions to get better.

A separate survey, conducted by the Department of Statistics, found that a net weighted balance of 19% of around 1,400 firms in the service sector expected conditions to improve in the first half of 2011 relative to July-December 2010. However, this represented a fall from the net weighted balance of 27% expecting an improvement among respondents to the previous survey, which was conducted in September and October. Around 31% of respondents to the latest survey said that conditions would improve, while 12% said they would worsen and 57% said that they would remain the same. Amusement and recreation firms were the most optimistic, with a net weighted 61% expecting conditions to improve in the first half, followed by financial services (47%), hotels and catering (25%), wholesale and retail trade (18%), business services (18%) and real estate (7%). Information and communications firms were the most pessimistic. A net weighted balance of 2% of such firms expected trading conditions to deteriorate in the next six months.