Black Monday 30 years on: How it happened and what we can learn

Markets went into freefall

It has been 30 years since Black Monday, the biggest one-day fall in stockmarket history. Here, Schroders' fund management team look at what happened and how today's markets compare to 1987.

On 19 October 1987, global stockmarkets came crashing down amid worries about a slowing global economy and high stock valuations. The concerns were compounded by a computer glitch. In the space of 24 hours, stockmarkets in Asia, Europe and the US suffered falls of up to 23%. It was the biggest crash in living memory. In the US, the Dow Jones fell 22.6%, destroying the previous record one-day fall of 12.8% set during the Wall Street Crash of 28 October 1929. But with the help of central bankers, stockmarkets recovered. Five years after the event stockmarkets in the UK, Europe and th...