Graphic: MintNikkei’s India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 53.2 in December from 53.7 in the previous month. Since the manufacturing PMI also declined to 53.2 in December, it dragged the Composite PMI down to 53.6. However, services providers remained more confident about business outlook than their counterparts in the manufacturing sector, showed the monthly survey. While companies in both industries saw input cost inflation easing to multi-month lows, unlike manufacturers, services providers stepped up hiring. Commenting on the Indian Services PMI survey data, Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit and author of the report, said, “Services companies took a breather from rising expenses as cost inflation eased to a 19-month low.

Source: Mint January 07, 2019 02:48 UTC