March 9, 2020, marked the first U.S. stock-market trading halt during the COVID-19 crash.
Trading was halted shortly after the open when the S&P 500 fell 7%, triggering the market’s Level 1 circuit breaker. The halt was the first such U.S. shutdown since 1997. Investors were reacting to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, worsening economic expectations, and a sharp dispute over oil production between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Additional circuit-breaker halts occurred on March 12, March 16, and March 18. The S&P 500 ultimately fell about 34% from its February 2020 peak to its March 23 low, before a powerful recovery began.
March 9 is sometimes confused with March 12 or March 16 because all were exceptionally volatile sessions. The date asked for is the first pandemic-era U.S. trading halt, not the largest percentage decline of the episode.