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 more than 2% each in morning deals.

The Sensex plunged nearly 1,700 points, or 2.25%, to 72,854, while the Nifty 50 plunged 532 points, or 2.30%, to 22,582, during the session. The BSE 150 Midcap and the BSE 250 Smallcap indices crashed 3% each.

Investors lost about Rs.12 lakh crore within the first hour of the session as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to Rs.417 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 facto...