On 29 September 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 777.68 points in its largest point drop at that time.
The fall came during the global financial crisis, after the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the original version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The proposed legislation included the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly called TARP, which was intended to support the financial system.
The Dow fell 777.68 points, or about 7%, in one session. Because the index stood at a much higher level than in earlier decades, the record point loss was not the same as the record percentage loss. This distinction is important when comparing 2008 with Black Monday in 1987.
Congress later passed a revised bailout bill, but financial stress continued. The crisis involved falling housing prices, mortgage-related securities, bank failures, and severe damage to credit markets. The September 2008 decline was one of several dramatic market moves during the worldwide crash.