BENGALURU, Jan 3 Reuters India39;s manufacturing industry ended 2023 on a slightly shaky footing as factory growth decelerated to an eighteenmonth low in December, pressured by a weaker rise in new orders and output, a business survey showed on Wednesday.

The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers39; Index, compiled by SP Global, fell to 54.9 in December from November39;s 56.0.

Still, the reading was above the 50mark separating growth from contraction for a 30th straight month.

India39;s manufacturing sector continued to expand in December, although at a softer pace, following an uptick in the previous month, said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.

Growth of both output and new orders softened, but on the other hand, the future output index rose since November.

Manufacturers were at their most upbeat in three months about the coming year thanks to better customer relations and new enquiries, according to the surveyed firms.

However, after remaining largely robust last year, demand softened a little last month and the new orders subindex fell to 57.3, its lowest since June 2022, while output rose at the slowest pace in 14 months.

International demand was also less robust with export growth slowing to a sixmonth low. That impacted hiring which increased at the slowest rate in nine months.

Both the input costs and prices charged indexes were littlechanged from the previous month. However, the pace of output inflation surpassed that of input…