The 2020 stock-market crash was commonly associated with the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Equity markets had already been volatile because of concerns about slowing growth and trade tensions. As COVID-19 spread internationally in February and March 2020, governments introduced travel restrictions, business closures, and other measures that sharply reduced expected economic activity.
Major indexes around the world fell rapidly. The S&P 500 entered a bear market on March 12, 2020, and reached a closing low on March 23. Extraordinary monetary and fiscal support, along with improving expectations for vaccines and reopening, helped markets recover later in 2020.
The crash is sometimes confused with the separate economic damage caused by lockdowns and supply disruptions. A stock-market crash concerns asset prices; it is not identical to the broader recession that followed the pandemic shock.