Green Stocks March 9- Markets Suffer Collateral Damage From US-Iran War

With the offensive against Iran in full flow, markets continued to bleed, thanks to the rising oil prices. It's a good time for people to appreciate just how important oil remains for the global economy, thanks to its critical role across sectors, beyond the obvious    like transportation. From plastics that are used everywhere to chemicals, fertilisers and more, the oil economy has probably needed this war to flex its relevance and   huge influence to a lot more people. 

The green pack, dominated as it is by mid-caps and small cap firms, suffered more than most, as these firms are seen as more susceptible to the medium term risks from the war. Be it rising cost of logistics, or the fear of a slowdown as many clients pause plans to add renewable energy pending an improvement in their core business,   most firms in the green pack will be watching the news anxiously, hoping for a resolution soon, like most of the world. At a rough measure, you can safely assume that every week of the closure of the straight of Hormuz adds a month for 'normalcy' top return, if such an agreement is reached. Thanks to second and third order effects that take much more than a restart of operations or crude transport to reverse. 

Electricity demand, that was expected to rebound after a sluggish time in Fy 26 linked to extended monsoons and much else, could also be affected if key industrial clusters and smaller businesses are effected due to the escalating gas shortage.  Keep in mind that the gas situation could take far longer to normalise should there be a cessation of hostilities, as restarting will take weeks at Qatar, the largest has hub to be affected.  

With green stocks at levels that no one expected to see even at the worst of times, its a good time to wonder just how badly things could go to justify this level of pessimism. For let's face it., with the ability or most countries, large or small to endure the massive hikes in oil prices that have followed, pressure is surely building for some sort of a compromise soon. For Iran's leadership, its literally an existential issue, while for countries that import oil and gas, it's a matter of escaping a slide into recession or worse if the war is not stopped soon.

Perhaps the biggest point of worry would be interest rates, and linked to that, financing. With debt playing such a critical role, any reversal of the low interest rates regime, should inflation start creeping up due to the war, will be seen severely by the market, and could keep stock prices depressed way longer than anyone imagines.

List of Green Stocks