New Delhi, March 9 -- Stocks to buy for the short term: Escalating tensions in West Asia, which drove crude oil prices above $90 per barrel and triggered fresh inflation concerns, the rupee's weakness, and heavy FII (foreign institutional investors) selling dragged the Sensex and the Nifty down by nearly 3% each for the week ending March 6. Both indices extended losses to their second consecutive week.

The Nifty 50 is now more than 7% down from its record high of 26,373, which it hit on January 5 this year. The BSE Sensex has crashed more than 8% from its all-time high of 86,159, reached on December 1 last year.

On Friday, the Nifty 50 touched an intraday low of 24,415, but eventually settled at 24,450. Traders closely monitor the cruci...