April PMI Manufacturing Improved By A Tad; Downsizing Eased

India's manufacturing activity improved marginally for the month of April. This is even as fresh domestic factory orders came in and output was again eased to eight-month low as the coronavirus situation in the country became intense amid the second wave. Nonetheless what helped was the new export orders that rose at its fastest rate since October last year.

April PMI Manufacturing Improved By A Tad; Downsizing Eased

IHS Markit in a data notified showed PMI or purchasing managers' index (PMI) for April marginally rose to 55.5 after declining to a seven month low in March at 55.4. A figure above 50 indicates expansion, while sub-50 signals contraction.

New export orders registered an increase for the eight straight month in April. "The rise was associated with a pick-up in international demand for Indian goods, with all three monitored sub-sectors registering expansion," IHS Markit said.

Also, the country's export data which was released showed the same picture with merchandise exports remaining robust in April, showing signs of increasing external demand for Indian goods.

Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit said the downturn in employment eased in April and business confidence towards the one-year outlook strengthened. "The headwinds facing manufacturers cannot be ignored, however. The surge in covid-19 cases could dampen demand further when firms' financials are already susceptible to the hurdle of rising global prices. April saw the steepest increase in input costs for nearly seven years drive the sharpest upturn in output charges since October 2013. Data for the coming months will be important at verifying whether client demand is resilient to these challenges or if producers will have to further absorb cost burdens themselves to secure new work," she added.