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India’s Manufacturing PMI Rises To Eight-Month High In July

The India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 56.4 in July against 53.9 in June.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Stainless steel tubes are stored ready to be made into exhausts at a actory in Britain. (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Reuters)</p></div>
Stainless steel tubes are stored ready to be made into exhausts at a actory in Britain. (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Reuters)

A gauge of activity across India’s manufacturing sector rose to the highest in eight months, aided by new orders.

The India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 56.4 in July against 53.9 in June, according to a media statement by IHS Markit. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

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

The upturn was broad-based by sub-sector, and led by investment goods, the release said, citing panellists that reported higher output volumes, better demand conditions and a pick-up in sales.

Aggregate new order intakes rose in July, recovering the growth momentum lost in June.

Although international markets contributed to the latest upturn in total order books, there was a noticeably slowdown in external sales. New export orders rose at the weakest pace in the current four-month period of growth.

Although the upturn in demand gained strength, there were clear signs that capacity pressures remained mild as backlogs rose only marginally and job creation remained subdued, according to Lima.

Robust demand for raw materials meant that cost burdens continued to rise, but the rate of inflation slipped to an 11-month low. Chemicals, electronic components, metals, textiles and transportation fees were reportedly up on the month. This subsequently dragged down the rate of increase in output prices to the weakest in four months, Lima said.

Despite the solid performance of the manufacturing industry, overall job creation remained subdued. The latest increase in employment was marginal and broadly similar to those seen in the current five-month sequence of growth.

The overall level of business sentiment was muted in the context of historical data even as it improved from June's 27-month low. In fact, 96% of manufacturers forecast no change in output from present levels over the course of the coming 12 months.