New Delhi, March 10 -- After nine days of denial, the hard reality of an oil shock seems to have hit home. In the second week of joint US-Israel attacks on Iran, crude oil prices have leapt into three digits, with Brent within sniffing distance of $120 per barrel at one point. The oil spike battered stocks across Asia as plumes of smoke began to look like clouds of stagflation on the not-so-distant horizon.

India's benchmark BSE Sensex slid nearly 3.2% on Monday morning before it recovered a bit to settle around 1.7% down at 77,566. The rupee hit a record low of 92.35 to the dollar. That Iran's chokehold on Gulf oil supply hasn't eased bodes ill for our economy. After all, we import nearly nine of every 10 barrels we consume.

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