Coronavirus pulls services PMI into contraction as overseas demand falls

Falls to 49.3 in March from February's 7-yr high of 57.5 as companies cut workforce

The global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has cut short the good times in India’s services sector, which contracted in March because overseas demand fell and exports received a hard knock, according to a monthly survey released on Monday.
 

The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped steeply from February’s more than a seven-year high of 57.5 to 49.3 in March. In PMI parlance, the 50-mark threshold separates expansion from contraction.
 

Experts had hoped the services sector scaling an 85-month high in February would help it to tide over the ongoing corona crisis as rising new orders from overseas markets had