India's services industry contracts in Feb as inflation hits demand: PMI

Activity in India’s service industries contracted in February for the first time since November as rising price pressures led to a decline in new businesses orders, a private survey showed on Monday.

 The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell from 51.7 in January to 47.8 in February, its lowest level since August.

Services activity suffered for most of last year following a ban of high value currency notes in November 2016. The July 1 implementation of a national sales tax 1 was another setback, weakening demand.

“Both activity and new work declined for the first time since November, with rates