The 2010 Flash Crash saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly lose nearly 1,000 points in minutes.
On May 6, 2010, U.S. equity markets experienced an exceptionally rapid collapse and partial recovery. The Dow fell about 998 points, or roughly 9%, from its previous close before recovering much of the loss. Some individual securities traded at bizarrely low prices for a short time.
Investigations found that automated trading and a large sell order in E-mini S&P 500 futures helped create a feedback loop. High-frequency traders reduced their participation or sold, while liquidity temporarily disappeared from parts of the market. The event showed how electronic markets could amplify a movement far faster than human traders could respond.
The crash was not the same as Black Monday in 1987 or the 2008 financial crisis. It was a brief market-structure event rather than a prolonged collapse caused by widespread bank insolvency. U.S. authorities later strengthened safeguards, including circuit breakers and rules for clearly erroneous trades.