The 2010 Flash Crash sent U.S. stock prices sharply downward on May 6, 2010.
During the afternoon of May 6, major U.S. indexes plunged rapidly and then recovered much of the loss within minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell nearly 1,000 points, an extraordinary move for such a short period. Some individual securities traded at wildly low or high prices.
Investigations found that automated trading, market fragmentation, and a large sell order contributed to the episode. A U.S. commodities trader, Navinder Singh Sarao, was later accused of using spoofing orders that helped worsen the turmoil; authorities also emphasized broader market-structure weaknesses.
The event differed from a conventional bear market because its most dramatic movement happened within minutes and partially reversed the same day. Regulators responded with measures including single-stock trading pauses and revised circuit-breaker rules.