During the 1987 global stock-market crash, Hong Kong’s market fell about 45.8%. The collapse began in Hong Kong before spreading through international financial markets and eventually reaching the United States on 19 October, the day remembered as Black Monday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index had risen strongly before the crash, and investor confidence deteriorated rapidly in October. Trading was suspended for several days after the sharp fall. The episode showed how closely linked financial markets had become through international investment, currency concerns, and modern communications.
Other major markets also suffered large declines. Australia fell about 41.8%, the United Kingdom about 26.4%, and the United States Dow Jones Industrial Average 22.6% in percentage terms. These figures are generally quoted for the principal benchmark indexes of the affected markets.
The event is sometimes described as an American crash because of its Wall Street symbolism. In reality, it was a worldwide market collapse, and Hong Kong recorded the largest percentage decline among the major markets commonly cited in accounts of Black Monday.