MARKET OVERVIEW :
Markets under correction after a bull-run. Crude Oil prices down. Paint companies’ share prices surge. Bajaj Home Finance IPO soon. India’s service sector growth rises to a five-month high in August. Manufacturing down.
India’s services sector activity in August indicated the strongest rate of expansion since March and was well above its long-run average.
Payroll numbers also rose solidly as companies remained upbeat about the economic outlook.
New Delhi: India’s services sector growth surged to a five-month high in August due to a quicker upturn in activities and higher business growth, according to a business survey released on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, payroll numbers rose solidly as companies remained upbeat about the economic outlook amid a slowdown in output charge inflation, which was helped by cost pressures retreating to their lowest in four years, the survey noted.
Output charge or price inflation is a measure of how much prices change for products as they leave the factory and before they are sold to retailers and wholesalers. It can be a leading indicator of possible changes in consumer price inflation.
The HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 60.9 in August, up from 60.3 in July, and from 60.5 in June. The index had reached a high of 61.8 in January. The PMI reading has remained above the 50-mark, which separates expansion from contraction, for 35 consecutive months.
In comparison, India’s manufacturing activity eased to a three-month low in August amid a moderate increase in new business and production.
The HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, came in at 57.5 in August, down from 58.1 in July. The figure stood at 58.3 in June.
“At 60.9 in August, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index was inside expansion territory for the thirty-seventh straight month,” the survey said.
“Moreover, rising from 60.3 in July, the headline figure indicated the strongest rate of expansion since March and one that was well above its long-run average. According to panel members, growth was underpinned by productivity gains and positive demand trends,”