Which U.S. stock-market crash followed the 1973 oil crisis and helped create the 1970s bear market?

The 1973–1974 stock-market crash followed the 1973 oil crisis and helped create the major 1970s bear market.

The downturn began after years of inflationary pressure and economic uncertainty. In October 1973, Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed an oil embargo on countries supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Oil prices rose sharply, worsening inflation and reducing economic growth in many industrial countries.

In the United States, the S&P 500 fell roughly 48% from its January 1973 peak to its October 1974 low. The decline was also shaped by the Watergate scandal, political uncertainty, high interest rates, and the end of the postwar economic expansion.

This crash is sometimes grouped with the 1970s energy crisis, but the oil embargo was only one part of the story. The market decline reflected several overlapping economic and political shocks rather than a single trading-day event.