Markets worldwide came under pressure from a major escalation in tensions in the Middle, said Ashish Nanda, executive vice president at Kotak Securities in Mumbai. “Equity markets never like uncertainties and it would result in weakness in the short term.”

Now, even the Reserve Bank of India seems to have become more worried about inflation rising. It kept its key lending rate on hold on December 5, even though it slashed its growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5%, which would be the lowest in a decade.