Which global health crisis triggered the worldwide stock-market crash that began in February 2020?

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the worldwide stock-market crash that began in February 2020.

As the virus spread internationally, investors anticipated business closures, travel restrictions, disrupted supply chains, and a sharp slowdown in economic activity. Major equity markets began falling rapidly in late February 2020, after weeks of uncertainty about the outbreak’s global effects.

The sell-off accelerated in March. The S&P 500 entered a bear market on March 12, 2020, and trading was temporarily halted several times by automatic circuit breakers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its 2020 low on March 23.

Central banks and governments responded with interest-rate cuts, emergency lending, fiscal programs, and public-health measures. Markets later recovered quickly from their March lows, although the pandemic continued to cause severe economic and social disruption. The crash is also called the COVID-19 crash or the Coronavirus crash.