What was the exact date of the 2010 Flash Crash in U.S. equity markets?

The 2010 Flash Crash occurred on May 6, 2010, in U.S. equity markets.

During the afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 1,000 points—nearly 9%—within minutes before recovering much of the loss. Many individual securities briefly traded at extremely low or high prices.

Investigations by U.S. regulators concluded that a large automated sell order in an already stressed market helped trigger a feedback loop involving high-frequency traders and liquidity withdrawal. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice charged trader Navinder Singh Sarao with contributing to the crash through spoofing-related activity; he later pleaded guilty.

The incident led exchanges and regulators to strengthen circuit breakers, price bands, and monitoring systems. It is distinct from a traditional multi-day bear-market crash because the most extreme movement happened within minutes.