Black Thursday is widely regarded as the first major trading day of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
Black Thursday occurred on October 24, 1929, when heavy selling pushed share prices sharply lower on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume reached a then-record level, and panic spread as investors rushed to sell. A group of major bankers temporarily supported selected shares, helping prices recover before the session ended.
The apparent rescue did not solve the underlying problems. Speculation had encouraged investors to buy shares with borrowed money, while industrial production and consumer demand were weakening. Selling returned with greater force on Black Monday, October 28, and Black Tuesday, October 29.
The crash did not alone cause the Great Depression, but it damaged confidence and contributed to a broader economic contraction. Black Thursday is sometimes incorrectly used for October 29; that date is Black Tuesday, the final day of the dramatic initial collapse.