Manufacturing to remain slow: HSBC index

Future manufacturing may remain sluggish in India due to declining output and new order flow, including from overseas and fall in order-to-inventory ratio while robust capital goods growth is a glimmer of hope, says HSBC Purchasing Manufacturers Index (PMI) released on Wednesday.

India manufacturing PMI fell to 51.3 in June from May's 52.6 as output and flow of new orders weakened. As a result, companies slowed down quantity purchases and cut back on inventory accumulation.

However, inflation indications fell down noticeably after picking up in May as input and output prices were lower in June.

Order-to-inventory ratio, the indicator of future manufacturing activity fell from 1.04 in May to 1.0 in June as the decline in new orders is higher than the decline in finished stock and goods, the index revealed.

According to the study by HSBC economists, 2015 has been quite volatile without any firm indication of steep fall or sustained uptrend in momentum.