India's manufacturing sector activity was largely flat in April
Published On: Monday, May 3, 2021 | By: Team KnowMyStock
Manufacturing sector activity in India was largely flat in April, as rates of growth for new orders and output eased to eight-month lows amid the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis, a monthly survey said today(3rd May 2021). The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was at 55.5 in April, little changed from March's reading of 55.4. "The PMI results for April showed a further slowdown in rates of growth for new orders and output, both of which eased to eight-month lows amid the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis," said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit. Lima also noted that "the surge in COVID-19 cases could dampen demand further when firms' financials are already susceptible to the hurdle of rising global prices." On the prices front, survey participants also signaled a steep increase in input costs, the quickest since July 2014, and upward revisions to selling prices.
The survey, however, noted that while output and sales increased at the slowest rates since last August due to an intensification of the COVID-19 crisis, there was a faster upturn in international orders.
New export orders increased for the eighth consecutive month in April and at the fastest rate since October 2020. The rise was associated with a pick-up in international demand for Indian goods, the survey said.
On the job front, although manufacturing employment continued to fall, the rate of contraction recorded in April was marginal and the weakest in the current 13-month sequence of job shedding, it noted.
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