The Flash Crash caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plunge nearly 1,000 points on May 6, 2010.
During the 2010 Flash Crash, U.S. equity and futures markets experienced an exceptionally rapid sell-off and partial recovery. The Dow lost about 1,000 points, roughly 9%, within minutes before recovering much of the decline. Prices in some individual securities briefly reached absurdly low or high levels.
Investigations found that automated trading, stressed market conditions, and a large sell order in E-mini S&P 500 futures interacted in ways that amplified the decline. Regulators concluded that the event was not simply the result of one computer malfunction, although trading algorithms played an important role.
The crash led to reforms including circuit breakers, trading pauses, and closer monitoring of high-frequency trading. It is different from a traditional multi-day bear market: its defining feature was speed, with extreme movements occurring during a single afternoon.