The 1987 global stock-market crash’s 19 October trading day was called Black Monday.
On that Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6%, its largest one-day percentage decline. Selling spread rapidly through markets in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, making the event an international crash rather than an isolated Wall Street disturbance.
Several pressures were involved, including high share valuations, rising interest rates, trade tensions, and automated portfolio-insurance strategies. Computerized sell orders amplified the rush to exit, although no single cause fully explains the collapse.
Black Monday is often confused with the 1929 Wall Street Crash’s Black Tuesday, but the dates and market conditions were different. Regulators later introduced circuit breakers designed to pause trading during exceptionally rapid declines.