Oct services growth strongest in over a decade, input costs surge: PMI

India's dominant services industry expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade on improved domestic demand despite high inflation, driving firms to take on staff at a rate not seen since the onset of the pandemic, a private survey showed.

The IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index accelerated to 58.4 last month from 55.2 in September, above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for a third straight month.

The survey showed Asia's third-largest economy was on a sustained recovery path but rising prices could prompt the Reserve Bank of India to hike interest rates earlier than expected, putting the brakes