The stock markets on Monday crashed, witnessing a historic fall of 16 per cent in a day triggered by uncertainty over economic reforms and policies of the new government at the Centre.

The plunge, which started on Friday after the Left parties took a hard line against divestment, has cost investors about Rs 300,000 crore (Rs 3 trillion) during the two trading days.

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Reacting to the development, the Left parties said the market crash did not have any link with the economic fundamentals and was in fact the result of the "influence" the foreign institutional investors have on the trading system.