Worldwide losses on Black Monday 1987 were estimated at what amount?

Worldwide losses on Black Monday in 1987 were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. The figure refers to the combined loss in the value of stock markets around the world during the global crash that began on 19 October 1987.

Black Monday was a synchronized market collapse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points, or 22.6%, in one day—the largest one-day percentage decline in its history. Markets in Asia and Europe fell sharply before the selling reached the United States, and Japan’s market suffered its major decline on the following day because of time-zone differences.

Several pressures helped create the crisis, including concerns that shares were overvalued, large US trade and budget deficits, rising interest rates, and uncertainty about international monetary cooperation. Computerized portfolio-insurance strategies may also have accelerated the selling by generating more trades as prices dropped.

The crash did not produce another Great Depression. Central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, supplied liquidity and reassured financial institutions. Some markets recovered relatively quickly, although New Zealand experienced a much deeper and longer economic aftermath.