One year ago today, the Dow closed down 777.68 points for its worst 1-day point drop ever.
On September 29, 2008, the markets were already weak throughout the morning (down 250-300 points) but plunged even further around 1:45pm as the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the $700 billion bailout bill.
To this day, that decline is the index's largest point drop ever. In fact, the Dow has only dropped more than 700 points twice in its history. The second time the Dow saw a 700+ point drop was its 733 point drop later on October 15, 2008 (which was the Dow’s worst percentage drop since the crash of October 1987).
Keep in mind, despite the huge point drop, the fall on September 29, 2008 is currently only the 20th biggest 1-day percentage decline for the blue chip average.
If the Dow were to top its biggest point decline today, it would incur a heftier percentage decline given the index’s current lower levels. Assuming yesterday’s closing level, a 777.68 decline would equate to a 7.9% drop in the Dow – surpassing its biggest percentage declines last fall.