The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) picked up to 81.3 for the week ended June 20, from 74.9 recorded a week earlier, the firm said in a note on Monday. This also represented a 21.1 percentage point (pp) gain from the nadir seen in May end.

The improvement in the index was led by strength as Google’s workplace and retail and recreation strength indices increased by 6.7pp and 11.9pp, respectively, from the previous week. In contrast, the Apple driving index jumped by 16.2pp, continuing a trend of solid weekly improvement.

While the relaxed lockdown measures and moderating cases were expected to trigger a snapback in mobility, the actual economy would likely show improvements only gradually, Nomura said.

However, “a third pandemic wave over the next few months is a key risk that bears monitoring,” Nomura economists Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi said in the note. Other high-frequency indicators tracked by the index, like labour participation rate, inched up to 40.5 from 39.8 in the previous week, even as the unemployment rate rose by 0.7pp to 9.4 per cent.