The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 13% on 16 March 2020.
The decline occurred during the 2020 stock-market crash, when investors reacted to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic, emergency economic restrictions, and fears of a deep global recession. The Dow fell 2,997 points, or about 12.9%, its largest one-day point loss at that time.
Financial markets had already entered a period of extreme volatility. Trading was temporarily halted several times in March when benchmark indexes hit automatic circuit breakers. Central banks and governments then introduced major monetary and fiscal measures, helping markets recover from their March lows.
The one-day loss is often confused with the entire 2020 crash. The broader episode ran from February into March, while the Dow’s record percentage decline occurred on March 16. The market rebound later in 2020 was also unusually rapid, although economic effects differed greatly across countries and industries.