News This Week- 8 August’2025

1. India Services Sector Accelerates Growth in July, PMI Hits 60.5

The India S&P Global Services PMI for July 2025 surged to 60.5, marking the fastest expansion in 11 months and beating June’s 60.4 reading. Strong demand from domestic and international markets fueled growth in new orders and output, despite slower employment gains. Backlogs rose sharply, signaling capacity constraints, while input and output prices saw quicker increases. Overall business sentiment remained positive, supported by innovation and efficiency improvements.

2. India RBI Holds Interest Rate Steady at 5.5%

The RBI kept the key policy repo rate unchanged at 5.50% on August 6, 2025, maintaining its neutral monetary policy stance after a significant 50 basis points cut in June. The RBI lowered the inflation forecast for FY26 to 3.1% while retaining the GDP growth forecast at 6.5%. The central bank also confirmed that the CRR cut, announced in June, will begin in September 2025 to support liquidity and credit growth. Despite ongoing global trade tensions and looming U.S. tariffs on Indian exports, the RBI signaled a cautious wait-and-see approach to allow previous rate cuts to fully impact the economy.

3. US Crude Oil Inventories Fall Sharply by 3 Million Barrels

US crude oil inventories dropped by 3.029 million barrels last week, exceeding market expectations of a 1.1 million barrel decline, according to the EIA data released on August 6, 2025. The drawdown was driven by rising crude exports, which increased by 620,000 barrels per day, and higher refinery inputs, with utilization rates reaching 96.9% capacity. Gasoline stocks also fell by 1.3 million barrels and distillate inventories declined by 0.565 million barrels, reflecting strong domestic demand.

4. US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 226,000

Initial jobless claims in the US increased by 7,000 from the previous week to 226,000, surpassing market expectations of 221,000. This rise reflects a slight weakening but still stable labor market as hiring slows down. Meanwhile, continuing claims, which indicate ongoing unemployment benefit recipients, surged by 38,000 to nearly 1.97 million, the highest level since November 2021. The data suggest a cooling labor market with fewer job additions and longer durations for laid-off workers to find new jobs, although no widespread layoffs are yet evident