Which U.S. stock index hit a record one-day percentage gain on March 15, 1933?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record one-day percentage gain on March 15, 1933.

The Dow rose 15.34 percent on March 15, 1933, during a powerful rebound from the lows of the Great Depression bear market. The gain came shortly after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inauguration and the nationwide bank holiday, when the banking system was temporarily closed while authorities addressed failures and restored confidence.

The advance was dramatic because the market had suffered years of collapse after 1929. It did not mean that the Depression had ended immediately. Unemployment remained high, bank and business failures had caused enormous damage, and the Dow was still far below its 1929 peak.

The record is a percentage gain, not the largest point gain. Point records depend on the index’s numerical level and therefore change as prices rise over decades. March 15, 1933, is remembered as an extraordinary recovery session within the broader 1929–1932 crash and bear market.