The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the rapid 2020 stock-market crash that led to a record-speed bear market.
As the virus spread internationally in early 2020, governments introduced travel restrictions, lockdowns, and other measures that sharply reduced economic activity. Investors rapidly reassessed corporate earnings, supply chains, employment, and energy demand.
Major stock indexes fell at exceptional speed in February and March. In the United States, the S&P 500 entered a bear market on March 12, 2020, after falling at least 20 percent from its February peak. Trading halts, known as circuit breakers, were triggered several times.
The crash and the pandemic recession were followed by extensive fiscal and monetary support, along with vaccine development and reopening expectations. The market decline was therefore brief compared with many historical crashes, even though the economic shock was severe.