S&P 500 · August 21, 1991
The coup collapsed in three days
+2.94%
single-day change vs previous close
What happened that day?
- On 21 August 1991 the S&P 500 rose 2.94%
- Three days earlier, hardliners in the Soviet Union had seized power and placed the president under house arrest. Markets fell at once
- The Cold War was ending, and the fear was that reversing the reforms meant going back to confrontation
- But the army did not follow orders, crowds came into the streets, and the coup collapsed within three days
- With the risk gone, prices simply came back. Oil fell with them
- The Soviet Union itself was dissolved before the year was out
- The whole episode cost only 3.94% from the peak
Sources
Every figure on this page is recomputed from the original daily closing prices and checked against them at build time. The account of what happened is written from the sources listed above.