Growth in India’s private sector eased to a five-month low in October as weaker demand and rising output prices weighed on business optimism, a survey showed on Friday.

HSBC’s flash India Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 59.9 this month from a final reading of 61.0 in September and below a Reuters poll median forecast of 61.2.

Despite slipping to the lowest since May, growth remained robust and well above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction.

The overall index – a seasonally adjusted index measuring the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors – was mainly dragged down by a slowdown in services growth even as manufacturing activity recovered from a four-month low in September.

The f

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