The 2020 market collapse triggered by the global spread of COVID-19 was called the COVID-19 crash.
As governments introduced travel restrictions, business closures, and social-distancing measures in early 2020, investors rapidly reassessed corporate earnings and economic activity. Oil prices also fell sharply after a breakdown in cooperation between major producers. On March 9, March 12, March 16, and March 18, U.S. markets experienced trading halts under circuit-breaker rules.
The S&P 500 entered a bear market in March and reached a low on March 23, 2020. Massive fiscal support, central-bank action, vaccine developments, and expectations of economic reopening helped markets rebound later in the year. The speed of both the fall and the recovery distinguished the episode from many earlier crashes.
The crash was a market event within the wider COVID-19 recession and pandemic. Those terms should not be treated as synonyms: the recession describes economic contraction, while the crash describes the abrupt financial-market sell-off.