Which stock exchange was the center of the 1987 global crash's first major Asian market panic on October 20?

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange was the center of the first major Asian market panic on October 20, 1987, during the global crash.

After severe selling in the United States on October 19, markets across Asia opened under intense pressure. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 46.2% between October 19 and October 26, 1987, as trading was suspended for several days amid the turmoil. The shock then spread through European and American markets.

The 1987 crash is often called Black Monday because October 19 produced the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s largest one-day percentage fall, 22.6%. Explanations include overvalued markets, portfolio insurance, computerized trading, international market links, and investor panic.

The Hong Kong episode should not be confused with the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which involved currency collapses and broader banking stress a decade later. Tokyo was also heavily affected in 1987, but Hong Kong was the first major Asian exchange to experience the crash’s dramatic initial shock.