The 2020 stock-market crash began in February 2020 after COVID-19 fears triggered a global sell-off.
Major equity indexes reached records in February, but sentiment changed rapidly as the virus spread beyond China and governments began restricting travel and economic activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average entered a bear market on March 11, 2020, and global markets suffered exceptionally fast declines.
The World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11. On March 16, the Dow fell nearly 3,000 points, then its largest one-day point decline. Central banks, governments, and financial regulators responded with interest-rate cuts, asset purchases, fiscal programs, and emergency lending measures.
The crash is sometimes dated only to March because that month contained the most dramatic falls. However, the global sell-off began in late February, when markets started pricing in the likely economic effects of the pandemic. The later recovery was also unusually rapid compared with many historical crashes.