What global event caused the 2020 stock-market crash to begin in February 2020?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 stock-market crash to begin in February 2020.

As the virus spread internationally, investors anticipated lockdowns, travel restrictions, business closures, disrupted supply chains, and falling consumer demand. Major stock indexes moved from record highs into a rapid bear market. The selling was intensified by uncertainty about the disease’s spread and the economic response.

The S&P 500 entered a bear market on March 12, 2020, and reached its first pandemic-era closing low on March 23. Oil prices also collapsed after a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia disrupted cooperation among major producers. Governments and central banks responded with emergency spending, lending programs, asset purchases, and exceptionally low interest rates.

The crash and recovery were unusually fast compared with many earlier market downturns. A common mix-up is treating the oil-price collapse as the main cause; it added pressure, but the worldwide pandemic and its economic restrictions were the central shock.