India Sept services growth slumped to 6-month low on cooling demand

Growth in India's services industry slumped in September to a six-month low, led by a substantial easing in demand amid high inflation, a private survey showed.

The S&P Global India services Purchasing Managers' Index (INPMIS=ECI) fell to 54.3 in September from August's 57.2, much lower than the Reuters poll expectation for a gentle drop to 57.0., Reuters reports.

Despite staying above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the fourteenth straight month - the longest stretch of expansion since October 2016 - the index fell to its lowest since March.

"The Indian service sector has overcome many adversities in recent months, with the latest PMI data continuing to show a strong performance despite some loss of growth momentum in September," noted Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Although the new business sub-index, a measure of demand, cooled significantly to its lowest since March it was above 50 for the fourteenth month in a row.

International demand, which has not revived since the onset of the pandemic, remained sub-50 amid global woes although the drop in September was the weakest since January.

Demand slowed as firms raised their prices for a nineteenth month as they faced higher energy, food, labour and material costs.