Manufacturing activity falls to 14-month low in Feb

THE COUNTRY'S MANUFACTURING activity fell to a 14-month low in February, primarily due to output growth moderating to the weakest level since December 2023.

- FE BUREAU

The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 56.3 in February from 57.7 in January, according to S&P Global.

The February PMI print comes on the heels of the second advance estimates data, which have projected the gross domestic product (GDP) growth to expand by 7.6% in Q4FY24.

Economists say the weaker expansion in output poses downside risks to those estimates.

"Acceleration from 6.2% growth (in Q3) to 7.6% in Q4 looks quite aggressive. High-frequency data overall is improving, but not at the pace at which the NSO has assumed for the last quarter," said Abhishek Upadhyay, senior economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership (I-SEC PD).

I-SEC PD expects growth to be around 7% in Q4, while many other economists see it at 6.8-6.9%.