New Delhi, Aug. 4 -- India's private manufacturing sector continued to expand in July, but recorded the slowest growth since August 2021, according to the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data released by S&P Global on Monday. This was due to challenging market conditions, at least partly resulting from renewed tensions in West Asia. Manufacturing PMI, which measures the sector's conditions based on indicators of new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery time and stock of purchases, stood at 53.5 in July, marginally lower than the flash estimate of 53.9. The July reading is the lowest since August 2021, when it was 52.3; and also lower than the long-run series average of 54.2. To be sure, a PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion compared to the previous month. Moreover, July numbers are not far off from the March print of 53.9, the first full month after the start of the war in West Asia.Although the level of expansion was not much different from June, growth in new orders was the second weakest in over four years in July. Panel members suggested that challenging market conditions and reduced interest for key items were the reason behind this. Sales growth was also the slowest since mid-2022 despite little change compared to June. However, external orders accelerated in July, with gains from countries such as Canada, Egypt, and Indonesia. Among different kinds of goods, consumer goods were the bigger reason for the softer growth in July. Intermediate and capital goods recorded faster growth in both new orders and output compared to consumer goods. Slow growth of output also muted job creation in July, with the pace of job creation easing for the third consecutive month. While jobs have been growing continuously for 29 months, July growth was the slowest in this period....