Mumbai, May 4 -- US manufacturing conditions saw a significant improvement in April, with the S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 54.5, up from 52.3 in March. This marks the strongest growth in the manufacturing sector since May 2022. The boost was driven by a sharp increase in production and new orders, which rose at the fastest rate in four years. However, much of this growth was linked to stock building efforts due to rising raw material prices and ongoing supply chain disruptions. As a result, both input and output prices surged at the steepest rates in ten months.
Despite the growth, export demand remained weak, with international sales declining for the eleventh consecutive month, partly due to tariffs...