India services PMI rises to one-year high in January: HSBC Markit
Eskesen said adding that "these numbers underscore the need for the RBI to approach policy easing with caution".
The Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates on January 29 for the first time in nine months, in a move to propel economic growth by easing fund flow to perk up consumption and investment demand.
The bank also lowered country's GDP forecast to 5.5 per cent in 2012-13 as against 5.8 per cent estimated earlier.
Earlier, an HSBC survey had shown that the growth of country's manufacturing sector slowed to a three month low in January, primarily due to moderation in new orders and power outages during the month.
Accordingly, the HSBC India Composite Output Index - which maps both the manufacturing and services index – stood at 56.3 in January, unchanged from December's reading.
Services PMI rose to 12-month high in Jan: HSBC
(Reuters) Activity in India's service sector expanded at the fastest pace in a year last month, driven by rising foreign orders, but businesses were a little less optimistic about the future, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The HSBC Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index, which gauges business activity from a survey of over 400 companies ranging from banks to hospitals, jumped to 57.5 in January from 55.6.
The services PMI has held above 50, the level that divides growth and contraction, for over a year, even though India appears set to finish the 2012/13 fiscal year with its slowest economic growth rate in a decade.
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