India's factory PMI slid to 53.5 in July, the lowest in nearly five years. Job creation slowed, but output and export orders held up. Input cost pressures eased to a five-month low, HSBC said.
Alpha Score of 52 reflects moderate overall profile with weak momentum, moderate value, moderate quality, moderate sentiment.
India's factory activity slowed to its weakest in nearly five years last month, with the S&P Global India Manufacturing PMI slipping to 53.5 from 54.2 in June. The reading was below the long-run series average of 54.2, and a separate employment sub-index showed job creation softening for a third straight month.
The headline number remains above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction. S&P Global surveyed purchasing executives at 400 companies for the data. The underlying picture was mixed: total sales, input buying, and hiring all cooled in July, the report said.
Manufacturers appear to be stockpiling. Inventories of raw materials and finished goods both rose, and purchasing volumes increased. That pattern suggests firms are building buffers against potential supply chain snags, even as delivery times improved – an encouraging sign noted by HSBC's chief India economist Pranjul Bhandari. She struck a cautious note on the geopolitical front, saying renewed tensions in West Asia raised doubts over how durable those supply-chain gains would be.
On pricing, input cost pressures eased to their lightest in five months. Transportation costs remained a sore spot. Selling prices rose at a pace broadly in line with June, the report said, as companies passed through some of the higher costs to protect margins.
Output and new export orders held up better than the domestic sales picture, pointing to resilient demand from overseas markets, Bhandari said. Business sentiment rebounded from June's low, with firms citing demand expectations, infrastructure projects, and fresh client enquiries as reasons for optimism.
The backlogs of work sub-index edged higher, but the report noted the accumulation was only slight. The rate of order backlogs was the strongest in a year, though still modest.
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