India, March 13 -- Indian equity markets enter the new week under significant pressure after a brutal Friday sell-off saw the Nifty 50 plunge 5.31% over the week, its reportedly steepest weekly decline in nearly four years since June 2022.

Sentiment has soured as domestic retail inflation quickened to a ten-month high of 3.21% in February. The global "risk-off" environment further compounded the prevailing headwinds as the brent crude surged past $101 per barrel market due to escalating Middle East tensions, threatening India's fiscal deficit position.

Further, the U.S. labor market showed unexpected cooling with 92,000 job losses in February.

Against this backdrop of rising commodity prices, resilient domestic inflation and mixed glob...