How many points did the Dow fall in the October 27, 1997 mini-crash?

The Dow fell 554.26 points in the October 27, 1997, mini-crash. It closed at 7,161.15, a one-day decline of 7.18%.

The sell-off began amid the Asian financial crisis, as falling markets in Hong Kong and elsewhere spread to Europe and the United States. Trading was halted twice under the New York Stock Exchange’s then-existing curbs, and the exchange ended trading early after the Dow’s decline reached roughly 550 points.

The drop was dramatic in points but was not the largest percentage loss in Dow history. It ranked third by point loss at the time, while the 1987 crash remained far more severe proportionally. The Dow also rebounded sharply the next day, gaining 337.17 points and recovering much of the lost ground.

A common mix-up is confusing the 554.26-point fall with the 190.58-point decline on October 13, 1989, or with the much larger point losses recorded during later crashes. The 1997 session erased about $663 billion in market capitalization.