PMI: India's May factory activity remained strong despite high inflation

Demand showed signs of resilience in May, improving further in spite of another uptick in selling prices

India's factory activity expanded at a better-than-expected pace last month as overall demand remained resilient despite persistently high inflation, encouraging firms to hire at the fastest rate since January 2020, according to a private survey.

The survey comes just a day after official data showed Asia's third-largest economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.1% during the January-March quarter, its weakest in a year, amid rising risks from price pressures.

Still, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, came in at 54.6 in May, slightly lower than April's 54.7 but above the 50-level separating growth from contraction for