The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index dropped around ***** points in the four weeks from February 12 to March 11, 2020, but has since recovered and peaked at ********* points as of November 24, 2024. In February 2020 - just prior to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the DJIA index stood at a little over ****** points. U.S. markets suffer as virus spreads The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a turbulent period for stock markets – the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also recorded dramatic drops. At the start of February, some analysts remained optimistic that the outbreak would ease. However, the increased spread of the virus started to hit investor confidence, prompting a record plunge in the stock markets. The Dow dropped by more than ***** points in the week from February 21 to February 28, which was a fall of **** percent – its worst percentage loss in a week since October 2008. Stock markets offer valuable economic insights The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index that monitors the share prices of the 30 largest companies in the United States. By studying the performance of the listed companies, analysts can gauge the strength of the domestic economy. If investors are confident in a company’s future, they will buy its stocks. The uncertainty of the coronavirus sparked fears of an economic crisis, and many traders decided that investment during the pandemic was too risky.

The main stock market index of United States, the US500, fell to 6445 points on August 18, 2025, losing 0.07% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 2.22% and is up 14.93% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from United States. United States Stock Market Index - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

The value of the DJIA index amounted to ****** at the end of June 2025, up from ********* at the end of March 2020. Global panic about the coronavirus epidemic caused the drop in March 2020, which was the worst drop since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Dow Jones Industrial Average index – additional information The Dow Jones Industrial Average index is a price-weighted average of 30 of the largest American publicly traded companies on New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and includes companies like Goldman Sachs, IBM and Walt Disney. This index is considered to be a barometer of the state of the American economy. DJIA index was created in 1986 by Charles Dow. Along with the NASDAQ 100 and S&P 500 indices, it is amongst the most well-known and used stock indexes in the world. The year that the 2018 financial crisis unfolded was one of the worst years of the Dow. It was also in 2008 that some of the largest ever recorded losses of the Dow Jones Index based on single-day points were registered. On September 29, 2008, for instance, the Dow had a loss of ****** points, one of the largest single-day losses of all times. The best years in the history of the index still are 1915, when the index value increased by ***** percent in one year, and 1933, year when the index registered a growth of ***** percent.

As of August 2020, the S&P 500 index had lost ** percent of its value due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Great Crash, which began with Black Tuesday, remains the most significant loss in value in its history. That market crash lasted for 300 months and wiped ** percent off the index value.

View data of the S&P 500, an index of the stocks of 500 leading companies in the US economy, which provides a gauge of the U.S. equity market.

Stock market return (%, year-on-year) in United States was reported at 32.65 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Stock market return (%, year-on-year) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) from 2015-08-17 to 2025-08-15 about stock market, average, industry, and USA.

In an August 2020 survey, almost ** percent of the respondents said that they expect the stock market to increase in value by August 2021. However, a slightly higher percentage said that they weren't sure. The stock markets took a hit at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but had recovered by the time of this survey.

United Kingdom's main stock market index, the GB100, fell to 9139 points on August 15, 2025, losing 0.42% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 2.38% and is up 9.96% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from United Kingdom. United Kingdom Stock Market Index (GB100) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

As of November 14, 2021, all S&P 500 sector indices had recovered to levels above those of January 2020, prior to full economic effects of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic taking hold. However, different sectors recovered at different rates to sit at widely different levels above their pre-pandemic levels. This suggests that the effect of the coronavirus on financial markets in the United States is directly affected by how the virus has impacted various parts of the underlying economy. Which industry performed the best during the coronavirus pandemic? Companies operating in the information technology (IT) sector have been the clear winners from the pandemic, with the IT S&P 500 sector index sitting at almost ** percent above early 2020 levels as of November 2021. This is perhaps not surprising given this industry includes some of the companies who benefitted the most from the pandemic such as ************** and *******. The reason for these companies’ success is clear – as shops were shuttered and social gatherings heavily restricted due to the pandemic, online services such shopping and video streaming were in high demand. The success of the IT sector is also reflected in the performance of global share markets during the coronavirus pandemic, with tech-heavy NASDAQ being the best performing major market worldwide. Which industry performed the worst during the pandemic? Conversely, energy companies fared the worst during the pandemic, with the S&P 500 sector index value sitting below its early 2020 value as late as July 2021. Since then it has somewhat recovered, and was around ** percent above January 2020 levels as of October 2021. This reflects the fact that many oil companies were among the share prices suffering the largest declines over 2020. A primary driver for this was falling demand for fuel in line with the reduction in tourism and commuting caused by lockdowns all over the world. However, as increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates throughout 2021 led to lockdowns being lifted and global tourism reopening, demand has again risen - reflected by the recent increase in the S&P 500 energy index.

Venezuela's main stock market index, the IBC, rose to 645 points on August 15, 2025, gaining 0.48% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 61.96% and is up 622.26% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Venezuela. Venezuela Stock Market (IBVC) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

Indonesia's main stock market index, the JCI, fell to 7898 points on August 15, 2025, losing 0.41% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 9.82% and is up 6.27% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Indonesia. Indonesia Stock Market (JCI) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

China: Stock market return, percent: The latest value from 2021 is 13.47 percent, an increase from 7.07 percent in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 32.21 percent, based on data from 87 countries. Historically, the average for China from 1991 to 2021 is 20.88 percent. The minimum value, -33.59 percent, was reached in 1994 while the maximum of 308.94 percent was recorded in 1992.

Ireland: Stock market return, percent: The latest value from 2021 is 28.22 percent, an increase from 1.45 percent in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 32.21 percent, based on data from 87 countries. Historically, the average for Ireland from 1987 to 2021 is 11.26 percent. The minimum value, -44.57 percent, was reached in 2009 while the maximum of 138.07 percent was recorded in 1987.

China's main stock market index, the SHANGHAI, rose to 3728 points on August 18, 2025, gaining 0.85% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 4.73% and is up 28.83% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from China. China Shanghai Composite Stock Market Index - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

Russia's main stock market index, the MOEX, rose to 3012 points on August 15, 2025, gaining 1.16% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 8.45% and is up 6.57% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Russia. Russia Stock Market Index MOEX CFD - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on August of 2025.

Bulgaria: Stock market return, percent: The latest value from 2021 is 18.54 percent, an increase from -19.27 percent in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 32.21 percent, based on data from 87 countries. Historically, the average for Bulgaria from 2001 to 2021 is 15.4 percent. The minimum value, -62.64 percent, was reached in 2009 while the maximum of 124.98 percent was recorded in 2003.

Using the MSCI emerging markets index, stock markets in emerging economies performed above those of developed economies in 2020, with an annual return of 18.31 percent. This compares to a 2020 annual return of 15.9 percent for the MSCI World Index, which tracks the stock markets of 23 developed economies.

About this dataset

The Standard and Poor's 500 or S&P 500 is the most famous financial benchmark in the world.

This stock market index tracks the performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, more than $5.4 trillion was invested in assets tied to the performance of this index.

Because the index includes multiple classes of stock of some constituent companies—for example, Alphabet's Class A (GOOGL) and Class C (GOOG)—there are actually 505 stocks in the gauge.

How to use this dataset

• Create a time series regression model to predict S&P value and/or stock prices.
• Explore the most the returns, components and volatility of the S&P 500 index.
• Identify high and low performance stocks among the list.

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Acknowledgements

License

CC0: Public Domain

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While the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused all major stock market indices to fall sharply in March 2020, both the extent of the decline at this time, and the shape of the subsequent recovery, have varied greatly. For example, on March 15, 2020, major European markets and traditional stocks in the United States had shed around ** percent of their value compared to January *, 2020. However, Asian markets and the NASDAQ Composite Index only shed around ** to ** percent of their value. A similar story can be seen with the post-coronavirus recovery. As of November 14, 2021 the NASDAQ composite index value was around ** percent higher than in January 2020, while most other markets were only between ** and ** percent higher. Why did the NASDAQ recover the quickest? Based in New York City, the NASDAQ is famously considered a proxy for the technology industry as many of the world’s largest technology industries choose to list there. And it just so happens that technology was the sector to perform the best during the coronavirus pandemic. Accordingly, many of the largest companies who benefitted the most from the pandemic such as Amazon, PayPal and Netflix, are listed on the NADSAQ, helping it to recover the fastest of the major stock exchanges worldwide. Which markets suffered the most? The energy sector was the worst hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, oil companies share prices suffered large declines over 2020 as demand for oil plummeted while workers found themselves no longer needing to commute, and the tourism industry ground to a halt. In addition, overall share prices in two major stock exchanges – the London Stock Exchange (as represented by the FTSE 100 index) and Hong Kong (as represented by the Hang Seng index) – have notably recovered slower than other major exchanges. However, in both these, the underlying issue behind the slower recovery likely has more to do with political events unrelated to the coronavirus than it does with the pandemic – namely Brexit and general political unrest, respectively.