Chart of the Day: Check out how business outlook crashed to a recent low

Business owners are shaking their heads.

Business sentiment continues to sink towards uncharted depths, as 6% of services firms expect business conditions to worsen, compared to 2% optimism just a quarter ago.

According to OCBC, the pessimistic outlook is down 7% from a year ago. Real estate remained the gloomiest sector, mainly due to defeated expectations of a cooling measure lifting soon.

“Wholesale trade (-16%, especially with declining oil prices weighing on offshore oil exploration activity) and transport & storage (- 13% as water transport firms anticipate lower cargo volumes),” OCBC said.

“The most upbeat were accommodation (+40%), F&B (+36%) and retail trade (+34%) ahead of the upcoming year-end holidays and festive season,” OCBC added.