Services PMI growth slows down: Is the demand in the sector fading?

Input cost inflation quickens to fastest since November 2017

India’s main services index expanded in August at the slowest pace in three months, signalling that demand may be cooling in the country’s dominant sector.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Index fell to 51.5 in August from a 21-month peak of 54.2 in July, mirroring the weaker growth in both the manufacturing and services gauges. That was the lowest reading since May and showed both new orders as well as employment slowed from July levels. A reading above 50 signals expansion while less than that shows a contraction.

The services sector accounts for about 55 per cent of India’s