It was one of the most volatile years ever for the Australian sharemarket - which kept rising in the first few weeks of the year - despite devastating bushfires.
And even as news of a novel coronavirus spread - including Australia’s first case on the 25th of January, shares continued to hit record levels, peaking on the 20th of February at 7162.
As the seriousness of the virus was realised and economies began shutting down, Australia's market plummeted. Shares lost over a third of their value. In just one month they fell to levels not seen since 2016.
It was a similar story on global markets, prompting central banks around the world – including the US Federal Reserve – to pump billions of dollars into the economy.
