Singapore's key nonoil exports unexpectedly rose for the second straight month in December, beating analysts' expectations and perhaps signaling that the worst may be over for the trade-dependent island nation's economy.

December's 9 percent year-to-year rise was larger than even the highest forecast in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 11 analysts, which was for a 2.5 percent expansion, while the median forecast was for a 1.2 percent contraction.

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