India Inc More Positive in Q3: Survey

Bangalore: While the business sentiment among the Asian companies fell for third quarter, due to the export-oriented economies such as China and Japan, the domestic spending economies of the south-east Asia seem to be more positive, India being one among them. Indian companies showed optimism in Q3; the sentiment might have got lifted further last week by the government reforms aimed at reviving growth.

According to the Indian financial portal, Moneycontrol.com, the Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asia Business Sentiment Index fell to 62 in the third quarter from 69 in the previous quarter. A reading above 50 indicated an overall positive outlook, while one below 50 pointed to pessimism. In the survey, both Indonesia and the Philippines had the highest score of 100, followed by Malaysia and Singapore. India had a score of 80.

On the contrary, China showed the lowest level of sentiment since 2009, when the survey was conducted for the first time.

Asian exports of autos, technology and shipping appeared the least positive in the survey. But the sectors more exposed to domestic growth were much more optimistic. The Index surveyed 200 of the Asia-Pacific’s top companies in 11 economies, covering sectors like autos, financial, property, resources and technology, and got 97 responses. Thomson Reuters conducted the poll in association with INSEAD, a global management and business school, in September 13-14.