The Dow Jones suffered its largest one-day percentage loss during the 2020 COVID-19 crash on March 16, 2020.
The index fell 2,997 points, or 12.93%, as investors reacted to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, economic shutdowns, and extraordinary uncertainty. The decline followed several days of severe volatility and repeated trading halts.
The Federal Reserve had announced emergency measures, including a major interest-rate cut, shortly before the session. Those actions did not immediately restore confidence because investors were focused on the expected economic effects of restrictions and disruptions.
The 2020 crash was unusually fast: U.S. stocks moved from record highs into bear-market territory in weeks. Massive fiscal and monetary responses, along with later vaccine progress and reopening expectations, helped markets recover, although the pandemic’s human and economic effects were much broader than the stock-market fall.