The 1987 global stock-market crash reached its famous “Black Monday” climax on Wall Street on October 19, 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points, or 22.6 percent, in a single session, the largest one-day percentage decline in its history.
The selling spread rapidly through international markets, including Hong Kong, London, and Australia. Program trading, portfolio insurance, overvalued shares, investor psychology, and international market connections all contributed to the collapse. The crash was not caused by one universally accepted trigger.
Black Monday is often confused with Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, a major day in the earlier Wall Street Crash. The 1987 decline was severe, but the United States avoided the prolonged economic depression that followed the 1929 crash. Central banks also responded quickly with reassuring statements and liquidity support.