India's private sector PMI climbs to four-month high in October

S&P Global’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index for India indicated that private-sector activity reached its highest level in four months during October, with the HSBC Flash Composite PMI Output Index climbing to 56.7 from 55.9 in September. Manufacturing maintained expansion, posting a flat 57.6 reading, while services improved to 56.2. New orders surged, driven by overseas demand from the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East and Bangladesh, the strongest in six months.

Employment gains were modest, with service hiring flat after nine months of growth and manufacturing hiring only slightly up, the slowest this year. Backlogs fell to their lowest since August 2021, and input-cost inflation dropped to its lowest in nearly a year, limiting output-price inflation to its slowest pace since March 2025. Business confidence rose to its highest since May, though it remains below the 2026 average. Final PMI figures are due in early November.