The New York Stock Exchange’s Level 1 circuit breaker halted trading after a 7% S&P 500 decline in 2020.
Under U.S. market-wide circuit-breaker rules, a Level 1 halt is triggered when the S&P 500 falls 7% from the previous day’s closing level before 3:25 p.m. Eastern Time. In the 2020 crash, this mechanism halted trading on March 9, March 12, March 16, and March 18 as the COVID-19 shock drove exceptionally rapid selling.
The rule is designed to create a brief pause for information to spread and orders to be reassessed. It does not prevent prices from falling later, and it is distinct from exchange-specific limits on individual shares.
The three other choices describe different thresholds or rules, not the Level 1 U.S. market-wide trigger. Level 2 uses a 13% decline, while Level 3 uses a 20% decline and closes trading for the remainder of the session.