Services sector expands again in December, PMI rises to 58.5

India's services sector expanded again in December, with the sector's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 58.5 from 56.4 in November, according to data released by S&P Global on January 4.

At 58.5, the services PMI is now above the key level of 50 that separates expansion in activity from a contraction for 17 months in a row.

The services PMI data comes a couple of days after the manufacturing PMI surged to a 26-month high of 57.8 in December.

As a result, the composite PMI, which is a combination of the manufacturing and services indices, rose to 59.4 in December from 56.7 in November.

"Positive sentiment and ongoing growth of new business continued to support job creation, but there were areas where capacities were reportedly adequate to cope with current requirements," said Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.