Slice of life

Black Monday saw stock markets around the world crash as millions of investors pulled their savings out of shares and put them into banks and gold.

Hong Kong's credibility as an international financial centre was subsequently severely dented by the decision to close the stock market for four days. Hong Kong was the only market to close as world bourses suffered spectacular declines in the biggest battering equity markets had ever endured. The suspension followed a wave of panic selling.

Stock exchange chairman Ronald Li Fook-shiu said the decision had been taken as a result of the huge 508-point drop on Wall Street on Monday night. He said the suspension would protect investors and allow brokers time to settle the backlog of trades.

He denied the territory's image as an international financial centre would be impaired by the closure.

The frenzy of selling started in New York on the previous Friday and hit the rest of the world when the exchanges opened for business the following Monday. Sydney plunged first, with a record fall of 82.5 points to 2,062.1 in the All Ordinaries Index.

It was followed by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the index of all listed stocks was down 51.81 points, to 2,101.17. Then came Hong Kong, where, within seconds of the local market opening, investors were screaming for their brokers to sell.