BENGALURU - Growth in India's dominant services sector was the slowest in over two years in January amid cooling demand but remained historically strong and led to a substantial rate of hiring, a business survey showed on Wednesday.

India's services sector growth slowed in January, with the HSBC India Services PMI falling to a 2-year low. New business and activity indices eased, but export sales saw a rebound.

India’s services sector activity expanded at the slowest pace in over two years in January amid softer increases in sales and output, a monthly survey said Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.