February economic activity in India saw small uptick: Report

Economic activity in India in February registered a small improvement led by foreign trade and consumer indicators, an analyst report said on Tuesday.

"Economic activity saw a small uptick in February with our Activity Index monthly growth improving to 3.1 per cent versus 0.9 per cent in January," US investment banking firm Jefferies said in a report titled "India: Frequent Factors, Mixed Trends".

"Trends across various indicators though are mixed, with foreign trade, steel, airport traffic and PV (passenger vehicles) being the key positives while freight, electricity, oil, 2W (2 wheelers) and inflation were the key negatives in February," it said.

The American analyst said that of the 36 "indicators" it tracked, "12 are improving and 13 deteriorating".

While the key positives were a sharp improvement in India's foreign trade and auto sales, "the key negatives were the industry and freight data".

The report said trends across indicators continue to remain "mixed".

"While foreign trade has seen improvement, port and railway traffic remains muted. Among industry, most indicators remain weak with steel and coal being the exception."

"Among consumer, auto indicators - PV and CV (commercial vehicles) - have improved led by channel stocking due to change in regulations. Ex of these, airport traffic remains strong while oil consumption and 2W remain weak," Jefferies said.

"Inflation is seeing an uptick with WPI (Wholesale Price Index) at 6 per cent plus and CPI (Consumer Price Index) increasing to 3.7 per cent," it added.

--IANS

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