Which U.S. stock index peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929, just before the Wall Street Crash?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929, shortly before the Wall Street Crash.

The index had risen dramatically during the 1920s as investors bought shares with borrowed money and speculation intensified. Its September 1929 high became a famous benchmark for the market’s pre-crash optimism.

The Dow did not immediately collapse in a single uninterrupted fall. After weakening in September and October, it suffered severe losses during the trading panic of late October, including Black Tuesday on October 29. By July 1932, the index had fallen to about 41.22, roughly 89% below its 1929 peak.

A common mix-up is confusing the Dow’s 1929 peak with the S&P 500. The S&P 500 did not yet exist in its modern form; it was introduced in 1957. The Dow, created in 1896, was the best-known U.S. market gauge of the era.