Confidence along urban Indian consumers showed a minor uptick of 0.9% points in November

Confidence along urban Indian consumers showed a minor uptick of 0.9 percentage points in November, over the previous month, according to the Refinitiv-Ipsos India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI).

Sentiment around jobs reported a major improvement. For economy and investments, the index reported a mild surge; sentiment for personal finances remains the same as last month, it added.

The monthly PCSI, which is driven by the aggregation of the four weighted sub-indices shows major improvement for jobs over last month, with conservative figures for the other three sub-indices, Ipsos said. The PCSI employment confidence sub-Index, pertaining to jobs, is up by 3.3 percentage points.

PCSI Economic

The PCSI economic expectations sub-index, is up slightly by 0.1 percentage points; the PCSI investment climate sub-index has surged by 0.9 percentage points, and the PCSI current personal financial conditions sub-index has shown no change over the previous month.

Improvement in consumer sentiment witnessed among urban Indians since May 2021 has been “consistent” and likely to further improve but the pace of sentiment growth seems to be slowing down after the festival season, said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

A Major Boost

“Consumer confidence is on a firm wicket and we have been seeing a consistent recovery since May 2021. And now with the job sentiment seeing a major boost in November, this will have a positive rub off on the other sub-indices of economy, personal finances, and savings and investments,” he added.

However, Adarkar cautioned against over-optimism, adding that November saw an uptick in consumer confidence linked to the festive season.

Prolonged Pandemic

“Sentiment around the economy is muted considering it will take the longest to repair, due to the prolonged pandemic. In some parts of the country, we are seeing an increase in coronavirus infections; vaccinating and social distancing still remain key priorities,” he added.

(Economy India)