The first trading day of the 1987 global stock-market crash, when Hong Kong’s market plunged, was October 19, 1987.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell dramatically on that Monday, helping establish the event’s international character before the panic spread westward. European markets then suffered heavy losses, and U.S. stocks experienced their historic Black Monday decline. Because time zones separated the exchanges, the crash unfolded across several trading sessions rather than as one simultaneous global event.
The sell-off followed a long rise in share prices and was aggravated by worries about interest rates, trade imbalances, valuation levels, and automated selling strategies. Portfolio insurance programs were designed to limit losses, but their sell orders could reinforce falling prices in a rapidly declining market.
The event is sometimes described as a purely American crash because of the Dow’s record percentage fall. In reality, it was a worldwide market shock, with Hong Kong among the earliest major markets to register the panic.