Russia Services Activity Expands In June

(RTTNews) - Russia's service sector activity expanded for the first time in four months in June, led by a renewed rise in new orders amid strong client demand, survey data from S&P Global showed on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted services Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose to 51.7 in June from 48.5 in May.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while any reading below 50 suggests contraction in the sector.

New orders increased for the first time in nine months in June. The rate of increase was the fastest since September 2021, underpinned by strong demand from new and existing domestic customers.

However, new export orders fell further in June, reflecting the impact of sanctions on foreign client demand.

Input prices rose at a substantial pace in June, linked to greater imported input prices, amid unfavorable exchange rate movements. However, the rate of inflation softened to a three-month low.

On the other hand, the rate of charge inflation eased notably from May and was the softest since February 2021.

Service providers continued to reduce their workforce numbers at a marginal pace amid a further fall in backlogs of work.

Looking ahead, output expectations for the next twelve months strengthened to their strongest since February.

Data also showed that the composite PMI Output index rose to 50.4 in June from 48.2 in the previous month.