What event caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 777.68 points on September 29, 2008?
Answer
U.S. House rejection of the bailout bill
The event that caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 777.68 points on September 29, 2008, was the U.S. House of Representatives’ rejection of the bailout bill.
The rejected measure was the first version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which proposed creating the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The plan was intended to address the financial crisis by allowing the U.S. Treasury to purchase or insure troubled assets.
The House vote failed 228–205. Markets reacted immediately: the Dow’s 777.68-point drop was its largest single-day point decline at that time. Congress later passed a revised bill, and President George W. Bush signed it on October 3, 2008.
This fact is often confused with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, which occurred earlier, on September 15. Lehman’s failure was a major trigger of the crisis, but the specific September 29 Dow record followed the House vote.