Market capitulation
Capitulation is the point in a decline where investors give up on a position or on the market broadly and sell, often at whatever price they can get, simply to stop the pain of further losses. It tends to happen after a prolonged or severe drop, once the investors who were holding on through the decline, hoping for a recovery, finally accept that they were wrong and exit.
Capitulation selling is often described as panic driven rather than analytical, since the decision to sell at that point is usually about emotional exhaustion rather than a fresh assessment of what a or the market is actually worth. tends to spike sharply during a capitulation event, as a large number of holders sell around the same time.
Some investors watch for capitulation as a possible signal that a decline is nearing its end, on the theory that once the last reluctant sellers have exited, there is less remaining selling pressure to push prices lower. This is not a reliable timing tool on its own, a market can capitulate and then keep falling, or grind lower for a long time without any single dramatic capitulation event, but a sharp spike in selling volume after a long decline is one of the signs analysts look for when trying to judge whether the worst of a sell-off has passed.