The sudden US market plunge on 6 May 2010 was the 2010 Flash Crash.
During the afternoon of 6 May, major US equity indexes dropped rapidly and then recovered much of the loss within minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,000 points, or roughly 9 percent, before rebounding. Many individual securities experienced extreme and short-lived price movements.
Investigations found that high-frequency trading and automated order systems amplified a sharp selling wave. A large sell order in E-mini S&P 500 futures interacted with other algorithms and stressed market liquidity. The event exposed weaknesses in how fragmented electronic markets handled sudden order imbalances.
The crash did not resemble a conventional recession-driven bear market because its most dramatic movement happened within minutes. Regulators later introduced measures including circuit breakers and tighter controls on certain trading activity. A US court later convicted trader Navinder Singh Sarao for market manipulation linked to the event.