India’s Services PMI falls in April, private sector activity growth weakens

Even if India’s April PMI data indicated that the nation’s economic conditions continued to rebound, service providers and goods producers witnessed weak output growth. Service providers experienced a slower growth in new business inflows, whereas manufacturers’ order books stagnated broadly, noted Markit.

India’s seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index fell in April to 52.8 from March’s 37-month high figure of 54.3. This shows that private sector activity throughout the nation grew weakly. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index for April fell to 53.7 in April from March’s 54.3. This indicates a solid, albeit softer expansion in activity.

Expansion in Post & Telecommunication, Financial Intermediation and Transport & Storage sub-sectors underpinned the recent rise in output. For the tenth consecutive time, new businesses in services companies increased in April. Overall, the growth pace was strong, in spite of easing since March. Even if survey members indicated that demand rebounded, they mentioned presence of competitive pressures. Inbound of new work in private sector rose at a weaker and moderate rate, pushed down by stagnant order books of manufacturers, noted Markit.

Meanwhile, services employment remained the same last month. For the past nine months, stagnant employment trends have been registered. Also, the number of manufacturing payroll was unchanged. The Indian services companies faced a rise in average input costs. Cost inflation rate was at a 13-month high in April; but it continued to stay lower than the long-run series trend. Meanwhile, confidence amongst services companies eased slightly last month.