Domestic equity market has been witnessing volatile trading sessions for the past one month, primarily over situation between Russia and Ukraine. As of February 22, benchmarks Nifty and the Sensex have corrected around 4 per cent. The S&P BSE Sensex declined 4%, while the Nift50 dipped 4.1% in the past one month as on Tuesday's early session, showed Stock Edge data.  

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Small cap and realty indices on the two exchanges were major losers as they declined between 11 to 14% during the corresponding time frame, while Nifty PSU Bank was the only index to remain flat with positive bias with 0.3% gain.  

At around 9.50 am, the Sensex and the Nifty50 declined 2% each as all stocks, excluding ONGC, turned red on the benchmarks. Besides, all broader markets and sectoral indices too were trading lower. Small cap and midcap indices corrected 2 to 2.70% around the same time, while Auto, PSU Bank and realty traded lower by 1.75% to 2.50% around the same time. The volatility was such that the Indian VIX index shot up over 20% in the early trade.  

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VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said escalations in Ukraine tensions with Russia recognising two pro-Russian rebel regions have aggravated the crisis. "The economic consequences are already visible in higher crude and gold prices," said the expert 
He said inflationary consequence of this will force the RBI to abandon its dovish monetary stance.  

What should investors do?  

Speaking of what should investors do in such a situation, whether they should buy on dips or wait, he said, the situation remains fluid and we don't know whether the tensions will escalate or be contained from now on. The biggest macro headwind for India is crude racing to $97, said Vijaykumar.   

He recommended investors not to rush as the markets have seen substantial corrections and there are good chances that stocks may see further orrection.  

"Globally stock markets have turned weak. Buying opportunities may emerge in this correction. But investors need not rush-in to buy. The situation is fluid. FIIs are likely to continue selling. This will continue to depress the prices of some high-quality financials. Nibbling in this segment can be considered," he added. 

We are in monthly F&O expiry week therefore we could see a surge in volatility, whereas March is going to be a very volatile month due to lots of events like geopolitical uncertainty, results of state elections, US Fed meeting, etc, said Parth Nyati, Founder, Tradingo. 

"The overall trend is bullish but we may have high volatility over the next month. Therefore short-term traders should remain light while long-term investors should look at this correction as a buying opportunity. We are very bullish on capital goods, infrastructure, real estate, banking, consumer goods, and auto ancillaries space. Therefore we advise investors to look for buying opportunities in these areas," he added. 

Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities, is of the view that Volatility in markets because of geopolitical issues linked to Russia and Ukraine should not last long. Chances of a major flare-up look small while sanctions on Russia are expected not to be as strong as the ones against Iran, as no one wants crude prices to stay at elevated levels on the back of already high inflation, he says. "Markets below 17000 offer a good risk-reward tradeoff. One should use this correction to gradually increase equity exposure by investing in quality companies," he adds. 

Vineet Bagri, Managing Partner- TrustPlutus Wealth, had said the markets are weighed down by various factors this week – monthly F&O settlement, geopolitical tensions, the ongoing domestic elections, negative FII flows and so on. "All in all, it promises to be a volatile week," he had said on Monday 

(Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/advice expressed here in this article are solely by investment experts. Zee Business suggests its readers to consult with their investment advisers before making any financial decision.)