On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) saw its largest one-day stock market percentage decline (22.6%) in history. Similar huge drops occurred in stock markets across the world and the day was dubbed "Black Monday".
The crash started in Hong Kong and spread west as various markets opened for the day. Therefore, much of Europe and Asia had already seen a large decline before United States markets opened.
Black Monday 2008
Many stock indexes fell dramatically on September 29, 2008, more than they had since 1987, causing the day to be called another Black Monday. The drops in stock values were a direct result of the rejection in the U.S. House of Representatives of a $700 billion plan to manage the crisis in the financial market by government bailout of several failed financial institutions.Business Week: Another Black Monday (September 29, 2008)
Earlier in the month, September 15, 2008 was dubbed Black Monday. On that day, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch was bought by Bank of America. Stocks fell more than 4 percent on the news.MSNBC: Dow falls 500 points in worst day since 2001(September 15, 2008)
Other Black Days
The terms Black Monday and Black Tuesday are also used to describe October 28 and 29, 1929, the days which followed the Black Thursday stock market crash of 1929.
In Australia and New Zealand, 1987's Black Monday is referred to as Black Tuesday, since the crash did not hit Oceania until the following day.
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
The Dow Jones dropped 508 points to 1739 on Black Monday
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Markets bottomed on Tuesday, October 20, 1987
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Following the crash, international markets were put on restricted trading
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By October's end, stock markets had fallen
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- 45.8% in Hong Kong
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- 41.8% in Australia
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- 31% in Spain
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- 26.4% in The United Kingdom
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- 22.68% in the United States
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- 22.5% in Canada
