India, March 17 -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report on Monday showing regional manufacturing activity dropped significantly in the month of March.
The New York Fed said its general business conditions index plunged to a negative 20.0 in March after jumping to a positive 5.7 in February, with a negative reading indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to fall to a negative 1.9.
The sharp pullback by the headline index partly reflected substantial downturns by both new orders and shipments.
The report said the new orders index plummeted to a negative 14.9 in March from a positive 11.4 in February, while the shipments index dove to a negative 8.5 in March from a positive 14.2 in February.
The number o...