This week brought significant daily declines across major stock markets.The drops followed President Donald Trump’s Wednesday announcement on tariffs, which include a 10% baseline tariff for all imports from all foreign countries, plus larger tariffs in places like China, Vietnam and the European Union.By the end of the day both Thursday and Friday, the largest U.S. stock markets had experienced the largest single-day declines since the 2020 stock market crashes influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.The Hearst Television Data Team analyzed the top 10 single-day declines for three major stock markets to see how this week compares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are indexes that measure the performance of multiple stocks, often serving as an indicator for how the economy is doing.Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average index was launched in 1896 and is the second-oldest U.S. market index. It includes 30 large companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Full data was not available going back to the beginning, but S&P Global identified the days with the highest loss reported in history. The Hearst Television Data Team excluded the highest decrease listed on Dec. 12, 1914, because it was the first measurement after the New York Stock Exchange had been closed for more than four months.The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its largest daily percentage loss during the Stock Market Crash of 1987 on what is known as Black Monday. The index dropped more than 22% from the day prior.Also in the top 10 are both Black Monday and Black Tuesday — the stock market crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. At the close of both days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 12.8% and 11.7%, respectively.The close of the Dow Thursday and Friday this week had the largest single-day declines since June of 2020 with the close of Thursday being an almost 4% decrease and Friday a 5.5% decrease. Looking at data since 1950 from Google Finance — the earliest data available — for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, these were the 54th and 24th highest single-day declines.S&P 500The largest single-day decrease for the S&P 500 was the same as the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s, with the drop being 20.5% from the day before Black Monday in 1987. The S&P 500 was created in 1957 and is an index of 500 leading companies in the U.S.S&P 500 also had several dates from the Great Recession in 2008 included in the 10 biggest declines, according to data from Yahoo Finance.The S&P 500 index Friday had dropped nearly 6% from the end of the previous day, making it the 19th largest daily dip since the start of the index in 1957.Nasdaq CompositeThe third index, the Nasdaq Composite, is the youngest of the three analyzed having been started in 1971. The Nasdaq Composite includes thousands of stocks with many technology-related companies.The declines for the Nasdaq Composite on Thursday and Friday were among the 30 largest single-day decreases in the history of the index, with Thursday’s at almost 6% and Friday ending with a 5.82% decrease.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
This week brought significant daily declines across major stock markets.
The drops followed President Donald Trump’s Wednesday announcement on tariffs, which include a 10% baseline tariff for all imports from all foreign countries, plus larger tariffs in places like China, Vietnam and the European Union.
By the end of the day both Thursday and Friday, the largest U.S. stock markets had experienced the largest single-day declines since the 2020 stock market crashes influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hearst Television Data Team analyzed the top 10 single-day declines for three major stock markets to see how this week compares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are indexes that measure the performance of multiple stocks, often serving as an indicator for how the economy is doing.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index was launched in 1896 and is the second-oldest U.S. market index. It includes 30 large companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Full data was not available going back to the beginning, but S&P Global identified the days with the highest loss reported in history. The Hearst Television Data Team excluded the highest decrease listed on Dec. 12, 1914, because it was the first measurement after the New York Stock Exchange had been closed for more than four months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its largest daily percentage loss during the Stock Market Crash of 1987 on what is known as Black Monday. The index dropped more than 22% from the day prior.
Also in the top 10 are both Black Monday and Black Tuesday — the stock market crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. At the close of both days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 12.8% and 11.7%, respectively.
The close of the Dow Thursday and Friday this week had the largest single-day declines since June of 2020 with the close of Thursday being an almost 4% decrease and Friday a 5.5% decrease. Looking at data since 1950 from Google Finance — the earliest data available — for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, these were the 54th and 24th highest single-day declines.
S&P 500
The largest single-day decrease for the S&P 500 was the same as the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s, with the drop being 20.5% from the day before Black Monday in 1987. The S&P 500 was created in 1957 and is an index of 500 leading companies in the U.S.
S&P 500 also had several dates from the Great Recession in 2008 included in the 10 biggest declines, according to data from Yahoo Finance.
The S&P 500 index Friday had dropped nearly 6% from the end of the previous day, making it the 19th largest daily dip since the start of the index in 1957.
Nasdaq Composite
The third index, the Nasdaq Composite, is the youngest of the three analyzed having been started in 1971. The Nasdaq Composite includes thousands of stocks with many technology-related companies.
The declines for the Nasdaq Composite on Thursday and Friday were among the 30 largest single-day decreases in the history of the index, with Thursday’s at almost 6% and Friday ending with a 5.82% decrease.
