Services grow at a pace not seen in 7 years, Feb PMI expands to 57.7

Growth in India's dominant service sector accelerated at a pace not seen in over seven years last month, boosted by a recovery in foreign demand and solid business confidence, a private survey showed on Wednesday.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 57.5 in February from January's 55.5. It was the highest reading since January 2013 and comfortably above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for a fourth month.

"Behind the resilience in the trend for business activity stands healthy demand for services from both the domestic and international markets," Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit, said in