The Nasdaq Composite fell 78% from its March 2000 peak to October 2002. That collapse marked the central market damage of the dot-com bubble, which had driven technology-heavy shares to extraordinary valuations.
The index peaked on March 10, 2000, at 5,048.62 according to the Nasdaq Composite’s historical record. It then declined as investors reassessed Internet companies with little revenue, weak business models, or no profits. By October 2002, the index had reached its bear-market bottom, giving back essentially all of its bubble-era gains.
A common mix-up is confusing the Nasdaq Composite with the Nasdaq-100. Both fell about 78% during the downturn, but they are different indexes: the Composite covers thousands of Nasdaq-listed companies, while the Nasdaq-100 tracks 100 of the largest non-financial firms. The 78% figure is a rounded peak-to-trough measure, not a claim that every technology stock lost exactly the same amount.