Nomura India Business Resumption Index for week ending Aug 8 rises to record 99.4

After briefly plateauing, mobility picked up sharply, with Google workplace, retail and recreation and Apple driving index rising by 7.4 percentage points

The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) for the week ending August 8 rose to a record 99.4 amid a decline in the cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The brokerage cited flattening Covid-19 cases, rising power consumption and improved mobility for the rise.

Nomura had predicted that the recent acceleration in the pace of vaccination and high seroprevalence in some states, could offer some buffer in the coming weeks (AP file photo)

NIBRI, which surged from 62.9 in the week ended May 30 to 86.3 in the week ended June 27, seems to have lost momentum mid-July onwards, and fell to 95 for the week ended August 1, from 95.9 in the previous week. Nomura predicted that the recent acceleration in the pace of vaccination -- 4.7 million doses a day in the past seven days as against 3.7 million for the rest of July -- and high seroprevalence in some states, could offer some buffer in the coming weeks.

For the week ending on August 1, Nomura cited declining power demand for the third consecutive week, contracting by 3.6 per cent, and falling labour participation rate to 39.8 per cent from 41.1 per cent as the reason for the decline in business resumption activities for the second consecutive week after a multi-week increase since the ebbing of the second wave of the pandemic.

After briefly plateauing, mobility picked up sharply, with Google workplace, retail and recreation and Apple driving index rising by 7.4 percentage points, 5.3 percentage points and 6.7 percentage points, respectively, latest data showed. In the week ending August 1, Google workplace mobility and the Apple driving index rose by 2.6 percentage points, and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, while Google retail and recreation mobility fell by 0.4 percentage points.

(With agency inputs)