July industrial output surprises with 2.6% growth

India's industrial production jumped an unexpected 2.6 percent in July after contracting for two straight months, government data showed on Thursday, good news for Asia's third-largest economy as it tries to emerge from a deep slump.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected output to shrink an annual 0.8 percent in July after a 2.2 percent contraction in June.
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes about 76 percent of industrial production, rose 3.0 percent from a year earlier, the statistics office said.
Capital goods production, a barometer for investments in the economy, rebounded by a robust 15.6 percent in July from a year earlier.