Which European stock exchange suffered the biggest one-day percentage fall during the 2008 global financial crisis?

The Iceland Stock Exchange suffered the biggest one-day percentage fall among European exchanges during the 2008 global financial crisis.

On 14 October 2008, trading resumed in Iceland after a temporary suspension, and the market’s main index plunged by 76%. The fall followed the collapse of Iceland’s heavily leveraged banking system. Glitnir, Landsbanki, and Kaupthing, the country’s three largest banks, failed or were taken under state control within a short period.

The stock-market collapse reflected the extraordinary size of Iceland’s banking sector relative to the national economy, as well as the freezing of international credit markets. Authorities also introduced emergency measures and temporarily suspended trading to limit disorder. The Icelandic episode is often cited as one of the most severe national financial crises of 2008. Its market decline was unusually large because banks dominated the index and their shares became nearly worthless.