India’s private sector output accelerates in April: Flash PMI

Nearly two months after the outbreak of the war in West Asia upended business activity across India, there are signs that private sector activity may be seeing a tentative rebound after witnessing a sharp fall in growth last month.

- Sreedev Krishnakumar

The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index rose to 58.3 in April.

(REUTERS)

India’s private sector output accelerated in April, after the slowdown in March that had taken activity to its weakest level since 2022, according to the HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released by S&P Global on Thursday. Manufacturing, which had led the March slowdown, also led the recovery in April.

The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index rose to 58.3 in April, up from a final reading of 57.0 in March—itself arecovery from the flash reading of 56.5. The Services PMI Business Activity Index came in at 57.9, up from a March final of 57.5.

All readings remain well above 50, which signals expansion compared to the previous month. To be sure, flash PMI numbers are based on responses from 80%-90% of the total respondents that feed into the final PMI readings and serve as an early indication of how business activity is evolving.