India's service sector PMI hits 4-month low in July

New Delhi [India], August 3 : Services activity in India decreased in the month of July as the S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed degrowth in comparison to the previous month, thereby hitting a four-month low.
In July services PMI index was 55.5 as compared to 59.2 the previous month. In May, it was 58.9.
The indices vary between 0 and 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall increase compared to the previous month, and below 50 an overall decrease.
The recovery of the Indian service sector lost momentum during July as weaker sales growth and inflationary pressures restricted the latest improvement in business activity, S&P Global said in a statement on Wednesday.
Services companies reported a further increase in their average expenses during July, with food, fuel, materials, staff, retail and transportation cited as the key sources of inflationary pressures. Input costs rose sharply, though at the slowest pace in five months.
Ongoing cost increases led companies to lift their selling prices in July, the statement added.
Meanwhile, India's manufacturing sector activity gained momentum in July to hit an eight-month high driven by marked gains in growth of new business and output, data showed on Monday.
The manufacturing index rose from 53.9 in June, to 56.4 in July.
"The Indian manufacturing industry recorded a welcome combination of faster economic growth and softening inflation during July," Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, had said.
"With incidences of shortages diminishing, the rate of input cost inflation eased to an 11-month low in July, subsequently dragging down the rate of increase in output prices to the weakest in four months," Pollyanna De Lima added.
Despite the solid performance in the manufacturing industry, overall job creation, however, remained "subdued".