The S&P 500’s 2020 bear market lasted 33 calendar days from its February peak to its March low.
The index entered a bear market on March 12, 2020, after falling at least 20% from its February 19 closing record. Its rapid decline was driven by the economic disruption and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with an oil-price shock and extraordinary market volatility.
The S&P 500 reached its low for that crash on March 23, 2020. From the February 19 peak to that low, the bear market lasted 33 calendar days, making it the shortest bear market in the index’s history up to that point.
This period is often confused with the length of the wider 2020 stock-market crash. The 33-day figure specifically measures the index’s bear-market phase from peak to trough.