USD/INR: Stays above 76.00 even as Indian markets are off

• USD/INR remains on the bulls’ radars amid broad US dollar strength.
• Coronavirus crisis takes a toll on the Indian economy, FPI registers record outflow.
• Indian markets are off due to Ram Navmi, US Jobless Claims to get more attention.

Despite the broad US dollar strength, amid off in India, USD/INR slips back a bit to 76.12, down 0.60%, during the pre-Europe session on Thursday. The US dollar seems to retrace its strength amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that pushed global central bankers to even dump the US Treasury bonds.

Even if the US is also among the global COVID-19 hot-spot, the virus seems to do much damage to the Indian economy as Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) marked the worst rout. Also portraying the pessimism could be a 30% drop in the Indian equity benchmarks during the quarter ended March, which in turn contributes to register the worst year since 2008.

On Wednesday, India marked the biggest single-day jump in the cases, with 437 to 1,649, whereas the US cases crossed 200,000 mark. Following this, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the near-exponential escalation of the coronavirus pandemic, with the number of deaths doubling in a week.

Portraying the risk-tone, the US 10-year treasury yields drop further below 0.60% whereas stocks in Asia flash mixed messages amid the lack of major clues.

Also contributing to the market’s lack of liquidity could be the wait for weekly US Jobless Claims. The data that earlier used to grab a little attention is of the major importance recently due to its spikes in millions. As per the latest forecasts from Goldman Sachs, another 5.5 million to be counted when the next report comes out Thursday.

Technical analysis

Unless providing a daily closing below the early-March highs surrounding 74.60, sellers are less likely to turn towards the pair.