Private sector industrial and services activity regained momentum this month as per a new HSBC Flash India PMI, which showed new orders rose in January at the fastest pace in six months, while overall activity levels were at a four-month high.
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The headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index -- a new seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and services sectors -- was at 61 in January, compared with 58.5 in December. A reading above 50 on the Purchasing Managers’ Index indicates expansion in activity.
The Flash PMI, unveiled on Wednesday, is based on responses from about 75% to 85% of 800 services and industry firms that are surveyed each month to arrive at the comprehensive PMI that is available in the first week of the subsequent month.
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In January, the new orders index hit a six-month high, as per the Flash PMI reading which suggested economic activity in the private sector was the strongest since September 2023.
“Operating capacities remained under pressure, encouraging firms to hire additional workers,” S&P Global and HSBC India said in a statement. “Another factor that underpinned job creation was a pick-up in business confidence. The inaugural flash results also highlighted an intensification of cost pressures, but selling prices were raised to a smaller extent,” they added.
“The inaugural Flash India PMI showed that both the manufacturing and services sector grew at a faster clip in January,” HSBC economists Pranjul Bhandari and Aayushi Chaudhary wrote in an accompanying note. “Of the two, business services grew at a faster clip, in fact the fastest in four months,” they added.