India’s dominant services sector expanded at its slowest pace in five months in October, as competitive pressures and heavy rains weighed on business activity, a private survey showed on Thursday.

The HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 58.9 in October from 60.9 in September. The reading stayed above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the 51st straight month, but new business grew at its slowest pace in five months.

Survey participants blamed heightened competition along with floods and landslides in parts of the country. Export business expanded at its weakest pace in seven months, and hiring ran at its joint-softest pace in 18 months. Business confidence slipped to a three-month low.

There was relief on prices. Input costs rose at the slowest rate since August 2024, helped by GST relief, and prices charged to customers increased at the most sluggish pace in seven months. Manufacturing, in contrast, rebounded to 59.2 in October, outpacing services for the first time in nine months.