COVID-19 triggered the worldwide stock-market crash of February and March 2020.
As infections spread internationally in early 2020, investors anticipated travel restrictions, business closures, supply-chain disruption, unemployment, and a major fall in economic activity. Stock markets declined rapidly, with several major indexes entering bear-market territory in March.
The World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. On March 16, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 13 percent, one of the largest single-day percentage declines in its history. The Federal Reserve and other central banks introduced exceptionally large support measures.
The crash was unusual because it combined a public-health emergency with an economic shock. The sharp decline was followed by a rapid market rebound, although the pandemic’s effects on employment, inflation, public debt, and businesses lasted much longer.