Boosted by increasing new orders, India’s manufacturing sector expanded activity at the fastest pace in four months in October. “Manufacturing continued to make up for ground lost in August, with a robust and accelerated rise in new orders boosting production growth in October,” said Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit. “Consumer, intermediate, and investment goods output all increased at stronger rates.”
The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 53.1 last month from 52.2 in September, its highest since June. It has been above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction for 15 months.
India’s dominant services sector increased at its fastest pace in three months in October, driven by a strong pick-up in new business. “Cost pressures faded in October. At the same time, a robust expansion in workforce – one of the best seen for over seven-and-a-half years – added to firms’ expenses,” noted De Lima.
Stronger services activity and better-than-expected growth in manufacturing led a composite index to increase to 53.0 in October from September’s 51.6, with employment rising at its quickest rate in nearly eight-and-a-half years.
