The 2010 Flash Crash occurred on May 6, 2010, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly lost nearly 1,000 points.
The rapid plunge happened within minutes during an already nervous market session. The Dow’s fall of about 1,000 points represented roughly 9% at the session’s low, although much of the decline was recovered before the close. Many individual securities also experienced extraordinary temporary price movements.
Investigations concluded that automated trading played a major role. A large sell order in E-mini S&P 500 futures interacted with high-frequency trading and rapidly changing liquidity. The precise market mechanics were complex, but the episode demonstrated how electronic systems could amplify stress.
The crash led regulators to introduce or strengthen safeguards, including single-stock circuit breakers and market-wide trading pauses. It was not a conventional, multi-month bear market crash, but a sudden electronic market disruption.