The PMI is a month-on-month measure of momentum in private sector activity, and the October manufacturing PMI, at 50.3, was just barely in expansionary territory. To place the November reading in perspective, consider the manufacturing PMI of 52.3 in November 2016 (chart 1). Taken together, the PMI numbers show that the expansion in the manufacturing sector in October-November 2016 was stronger than the one in October-November 2017. A third reason for caution is that, as the chart shows, the manufacturing PMI for March and April 2017 were at 52.5, just a smidgeon below the November 2017 level. As chart 2 shows, the Input Price index of the India Manufacturing PMI has consistently been higher than the Ouput Price index for the past two years.

Source: Mint December 04, 2017 02:26 UTC