Mumbai, April 16 (IANS): BSE Sensex is down by more than 300 points on Tuesday as geopolitical factors continue to weigh on the markets.

Sensex is trading at 73,040 points, down by 358 points. Sensex is on the verge of falling below the 73K mark if the weakness persists.

IT and financials are trading weak with Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Indusind Bank, Ultratech Cement, L&T down more than 1 per cent.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said economic and geopolitical issues will continue to weigh on markets in the near-term. The economic factor is the rising US bond yields which reduces the prospects of rate cuts by the Fed this year. High bond yields are negative for risky assets like equity and will accelerate FII selling in emerging markets like India.

“The market is more concerned about the geopolitical issue. Israel military chief’s statement that “there will be a response to Iran’s attack on Israel” has increased the probability of escalation of tensions in the Middle East. This is likely to keep the markets weak in the near-term,” he said.

“Investors may wait and watch the developments. Meanwhile, long-term investors can slowly accumulate high quality large-caps on corrections. Further corrections will make valuations of large-caps fair. Large-caps in banking, IT, autos, capital goods, oil & gas and cement are ideal for long-term investment. Since metal prices are firming up, metal stocks will remain resilient," he said.