MUMBAI: Small and retail investors should not panic and take a hasty decision with their money and other investments in the current volatile market, brokers and investment advisers have said. They add that it's the geopolitical situation in the Middle East which is leading to jitters in global markets.While it is also impacting India, the domestic market is likely to be less affected than those that are more closely linked to the stand-off between the US and Iran."For retail investors, the safest thing now is not to do anything in this volatile situation," said KR Choksey Investment Managers MD Deven Choksey. "Allow some clarity to emerge...it's always better to operate when there's clarity about the investment environment," he added.Choksey believes that since Iran is already under economic and trade sanctions imposed by the US, not much of its oil is coming into the global market.However, what could change this situation is if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most important sea passages through which about a fourth of global crude is shipped, said another broker. Investment advisers too believe that it's difficult to pinpoint for how long the current geopolitical tensions could continue and how it could end."The main factor that is currently pulling the Indian market down has its origin outside the country. So it's difficult to predict when it could end and how," said Arun Kejriwal, director of investment advisory firm KRIS. Kejriwal also believes that once the current volatility subsides, small and midcap stocks, which witnessed lacklustre trades during the past several months, could be the sectors to watch out for.Brokers also believe that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who pumped over $14 billion into Indian stocks in 2019 and nearly $20 billion across all assets classes - including debt and hybrid instruments - may not be in a hurry to take money out of the country. However, among the various types of foreign investors, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are expected to be the first to sell in a major way in case the slide continues for some more time. On Monday, the sensex and Nifty both lost nearly 2% each.Investment advisers also said that in case an investor has extra cash to invest, he should put the same either in savings bank account, short-term FDs or liquid funds. They also said that if an investor already has a financial plan in place and has been investing according to that to reach life's financial goals, investments under such plans should not be stopped or changed just because the market has turned volatile.