singaporea gauge of singapores manufacturing activity dropped into contractionary territory in september for the first time in more than two years amid a continued decline in electronicssector activity the citystates purchasing managers index fell to 499 in september from 500 in august the singapore institute of purchasing and materials management said late monday the reading marks the first contraction after 26 straight months of expansion a pmi reading below 50 indicates contraction the overall manufacturing sector has ended the third quarter with a slight contraction amid continuing contraction in the electronics sector said sophia poh vice president of industry engagement and development at sipmm global markets are still grappling with the macroeconomic risks of high inflation and quantitative tightening as well as the geopolitical uncertainties of the continuing russoukrainian war she added the pmi for electronics which accounts for about a third of singapores manufacturing marked a second consecutive month of contraction in september the electronics pmi was 494 in september compared with 496 in august