Covid-19: India's services PMI improves from April lows to 12.6 in May

Services activity in the country has suffered a lot amid back-to-back nationwide lockdowns to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

India's services activity, after suffering a shock collapse to an unprecedented low level in April, recovered marginally in May 2020, showed IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) numbers released on Wednesday.

Even as the headline figure rose from April's all-time low of 5.4, it remained at 12.6 during May, a level unparalleled in over 14 years of data collection, barring the recent months that have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The numbers in April and May point to an extreme drop in services activity across India, mainly due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of