New Delhi, June 18 : It has become common for Indians to get both good and bad news related to the country's economy. Around the time data on trade revealed that the country has a chance to touch $500 billion in merchandise exports in the financial year 2022-23, the stock markets in India went into a tailspin with the Sensex falling to a 12-month low. This was primarily because of global factors like a hike in interest rates in the US and the strengthening of the American dollar against major currencies. The continuing war in Ukraine also had an impact as oil prices remained very high, resulting in high inflation in India. However, less than 5 per cent of Indians are invested in stock markets, either through direct purchase of equity or through mutual funds. And yet, a majority of Indians seem to be of the opinion that a crash in the stock markets will affect them and their families. IANS-CVoter Tracker has observed that public perception on economic issues is often impacted by things that do not directly and immediately change their lives. This was proven again when CVoter conducted a nationwide survey on behalf of IANS to find out what ordinary Indians felt about the crash of the Sensex. Overall, 68 per cent of the respondents felt that the crash has made a difference to them and their families. In terms of gender, education, income and ethnic divides, the survey did not reveal very deep differences. For instance, while 79 per cent of upper cate Hindus said the crash has affected them, 72 per cent of Scheduled Castes shared the same sentiment. The really big difference was seen in responses from urban compared to rural India. While 61 per cent of respondents from rural India stated the stock market crash has affected them, 79 per cent of respondents from urban India felt the same. /IANS