Stock market crash, March 23 -- The Indian stock market resumed its downward trend on Monday (March 23), with the equity benchmarks-the Sensex and the Nifty 50- plunging as much as 2% each in early deals.

The Sensex plunged over 1,550 points, or over 2%, to 72,977, while the Nifty 50 plunged nearly 500 points, or over 2%, to 22,634.

The BSE 150 Midcap and the BSE 250 Smallcap indices crashed more than 2% each.

Investors' wealth was eroded by about Rs.8 lakh crore within minutes as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to Rs.421 lakh crore from Rs.429 lakh crore on Friday.

After Friday's decent gains, the domestic stock market is witnessing intense selling pressure. Let's take a look at the five key factors behi...