Stock market: Biggest one-day point drops in Dow history

Thomson Reuters

• Stocks tumbled on Wednesday.
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell 831.83 points, the third-largest one-day point drop in history.
• Previous large one-day drops include several days during the financial crisis, and the first trading day after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The stock market took a tumble Wednesday amid fears surrounding global growth, rising interest rates, and trade disputes.

The Dow closed down 831.83 points, the third-largest one-day point drop in its history.

The biggest one-day point drop came earlier this year. On February 5, the Dow fell 1,175.21 points. The previous holder of that dubious honor was September 29, 2008, when the Dow dropped 777.68 points after the first version of the TARP bailout program failed in Congress.

It’s worth noting that these are point drops and not percentage drops. As the Dow has gotten steadily higher over the last several decades, larger point drops translate into smaller percentage drops. Wednesday saw a 3.2% decline, which while far more tumultuous than we’ve seen in some time, pales in comparison to the 22.6% decline the Dow suffered on Black Monday in 1987, or the 12.8% drop experienced during the 1929 stock crash.

Here are the 10 biggest one-day point drops in the Dow’s history.

Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Yahoo Finance