Which stock exchange was the first major market to plunge during the worldwide crash of October 1987?

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange was the first major market to plunge during the worldwide crash of October 1987.

The Hong Kong market began the international chain of heavy selling on October 19, 1987. Its sharp decline was followed by major falls in European markets and then in the United States, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its largest one-day percentage loss.

The crash spread across time zones, demonstrating how closely global financial markets had become linked. Investors reacted to concerns about valuations, interest rates, exchange rates, trade imbalances, and computerized trading strategies. Because markets opened at different local times, the sequence could be observed as selling moved westward.

New York’s collapse became the most famous part of the episode, but it was not the first major market to fall that day. Hong Kong is therefore an important detail in the crash’s international chronology. The event also encouraged later efforts to coordinate market safeguards and trading halts across exchanges.