The Hang Seng Index plunged 46% over four trading days during the October 1987 crash.
Hong Kong was among the markets hit first and hardest in the worldwide panic surrounding Black Monday. Trading on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong was suspended from October 20 through October 23, 1987, after the Hang Seng Index suffered an extraordinary decline. When the market reopened on October 26, selling intensified.
The four-day fall of about 46% reflected both the global shock and local market conditions. The crash spread across Asia, Europe, and North America, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average later recorded its famous one-day percentage loss on October 19.
The Hang Seng Index is Hong Kong’s principal share-market benchmark. It is not the Nikkei 225, which tracks major Japanese stocks, nor the Straits Times Index, Singapore’s leading benchmark. Those markets also fell during the global crash but experienced different losses.