On what date did the 2020 stock market crash begin?

The 2020 stock market crash began on February 20, 2020.

That date marks the point when stock markets around the world began a sharp, sustained decline as investors reacted to mounting evidence that COVID-19 would disrupt economies beyond China. Markets had already shown concern about the outbreak, but February 20 is commonly used as the crash’s starting date because the global sell-off accelerated from then.

The decline intensified in March as travel restrictions, business closures, supply-chain disruptions, and recession fears spread. Major milestones included March 9, March 12, and March 16, when markets suffered exceptionally large daily falls. The Federal Reserve and other central banks responded with emergency rate cuts, liquidity measures, and other forms of support.

A frequent mix-up is choosing March 16 because it produced the largest one-day percentage drop for many U.S. indexes, or March 9 because it was the first dramatic “Black Monday” of the episode. Those dates were major stages of the crash, but February 20 is the conventional beginning. The market decline ended on April 7, 2020, although economic disruption continued much longer.