Mumbai, Nov. 6 -- Posting 58.9 in October, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index was comfortably above both the neutral mark of 50.0 and its long-run average of 54.3.

October data showed softer, although still substantial, expansions in Indian services output and new business. While factors like demand buoyancy and GST relief reportedly led to an improvement in operating conditions, competition and heavy rains constrained growth.

Still, companies were strongly confident of a rise in business activity over the course of the coming 12 months. Meanwhile, monitored firms suggested that the GST reform curbed price pressures. Input costs and output charges rose at the slowest rates in 14 and seven months resp...