US-Iran war impact, April 24 -- Global brokerage HSBC has doubled down on its bearish view on the Indian equities, downgrading it twice in less than a month as it sees US-Iran war clouds and the subsequent oil price spike to dent the earnings recovery.

HSBC, in a report dated 23 April, downgraded India to 'underweight' after changing its stance to 'neutral' from 'overweight' on 31 March. At the same time, it raised its stance on Korean equities to neutral, adding "we fund our Korea upgrade by downgrading India".

HSBC expects India's earnings recovery to be delayed amid the impact of higher crude oil prices. Brent crude is up almost 40% since the Middle East war, which started in late February, and is currently trading above $100 a barre...