India services PMI expands at fastest pace in 5 months on buoyant demand

Demand rose at the fastest pace in more than three years

India's services sector activity gained momentum and touched a five-month high in December, supported by uptick in new business orders that boosted output as well as employment, a monthly survey showed on Monday.

The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index improved from 52.7 in November to 53.3 in December, highlighting the second-strongest rate of increase in output in over a year, after July.

"The news of sustained job creation, robust new order growth and a pick-up in business confidence suggest that expansion can be maintained in the early part of 2020," said Pollyanna de Lima, Principal Economist at IHS Markit.

Survey members