The country's manufacturing sector activity grew at the slowest rate in four months during March, hampered by softer rises in new business as international demand faltered owing to the coronavirus pandemic, a monthly survey said on Thursday. The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI fell to 51.8 in March, from 54.5 in February, signalling the slowest improvement in business conditions since November 2019. This is the 32nd consecutive month that the manufacturing PMI has remained above the 50-point mark.
NSE Nifty finished higher by 46.05 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 11,707.90. Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 6.32 per cent, followed by Nestle India, HUL, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Maruti and PowerGrid.
The IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI rose from 51.2 in November to 52.7 in December. Factories benefited from a rebound in demand, and responded by scaling up production to the greatest extent since May. As per the survey, new work orders witnessed marked improvement, with the pace of expansion picking up to the fastest since July.
Other major laggards were IndusInd Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries -- falling as much as 6.30 per cent.
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