The largest one-day point drop in Dow Jones Industrial Average history was 2,997.10 points on March 16, 2020.
The fall occurred during the global market crash associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors reacted to rapidly worsening public-health news, travel restrictions, business closures, and uncertainty about the economic consequences. The Federal Reserve also announced major emergency measures around that period, but confidence remained extremely weak.
The Dow’s percentage decline that day was about 12.9%, making it one of the index’s worst percentage performances. The market also experienced automatic trading halts, known as circuit breakers, during the extreme volatility of March 2020.
Point records and percentage records are different. A large point decline can occur when an index has a much higher numerical level than in earlier decades. For that reason, the 2020 drop was the biggest in points, while earlier crashes produced larger percentage losses.