On a Tuesday in mid-September 2026, Indian equity markets pulled back as two ancient forces of financial gravity — the cost of energy and the price of money — rose in tandem, reminding investors that stocks do not exist in isolation but are always in conversation with the broader economy. Elevated crude oil prices squeezed the margins of companies that depend on energy, while rising bond yields quietly offered investors a safer harbor with better returns, dimming the relative appeal of equities. In this way, a market decline is rarely a single event but rather the accumulated weight of million