India's private sector growth eased marginally in the month of May 2026, amid weaker increases in total new orders, international sales, employment and business activity. Further, after retreating in April, input price inflation ticked higher, but firms limited the pass-through of additional cost burdens to clients by lifting output charges to a lesser extent. Service providers outperformed manufacturers and experienced softer inflationary pressures.
According to the data report, the HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI eased from final reading of 54.7 in April to 54.3 in May, while HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 58.9 in May from April’s final reading of 58.8. Besides, the HSBC Flash India PMI Composite Output Index - a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors - was down from a final reading of 58.2 in April to 58.1 in May.
The report further noted that service providers hired extra staff to the greatest extent in nearly a year. Conversely, job creation at goods producers softened from April. Besides, business confidence remained strongly positive in May, with the overall level of positive sentiment remaining above its long-run average despite retreating to a three-month low. Competitive pricing strategies, marketing efforts and hopes of better market conditions in the coming months underpinned optimism.
Start Research-backed Investing ...Now. Subscribe to Sapphire
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: