Onshore Markets Closed Today; Equity Inflows Aid Outperformance In March

USD/INR firmed yesterday finishing the session up ~0.2%. Rising oil prices weighed on the pair however gains were pared into the close as US Treasury Yields softened.

• A reminder that onshore markets are closed today for the observance of a national holiday.
• The pair closed below its 20-Day EMA (82.38), bears now target 200-Day EMA (80.95). Bulls look to target the 83 handle.
• Through March the INR outperformed the Bloomberg Asia Dollar Index, March is seasonally a strong month for the Rupee however the INR did weaken ~0.6% vs an average gain of ~0.6% using the past 2 decades of data. IN NEER terms the index still ended the month down slightly (last near 67.00 for the J.P. Morgan index). We did get to 68.26 in early March).
• Equity Inflows were strong in March totalling ~$1.814bn which was the strongest inflow since May 2020.
• On the wires yesterday we had March Mfg PMI, the measure rose to 56.4 from 55.3 prior. This was the highest read of 2023, although below the 57.80 printed in December.
• Looking ahead tomorrow we have Composite and Services PMI for March, there are no estimates for either print. The prior reads were 59.0 (Composite) and 59.4 (Services)