China’s 8-percent stock plunge dubbed ‘Black Monday’

Global markets are having a collective freak out after China’s shares took another sizeable tumble, with an 8.7-percent drop by the afternoon. Xinhua has already labeled the dive China’s ‘Black Monday.’

The dramatic plunge wiped out the past year of gains, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper is also reporting that China’s central bank is preparing to flood the market with cash in an attempt to stop a further slide.  

The drop heard ‘round the world is having major repercussions elsewhere, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and Japan’s Nikkei both down more than 4 percent, and Taiwan’s market experiencing its worst day ever, according to The Guardian. South Korea, the Philippines and Australia also posted significant losses, while European and US markets are also set for a big fall.

“Markets are panicking. Things are starting look like the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Speculators are selling assets that seem the most vulnerable,” said a reassuring Takako Masai, the head of research at Shinsei Bank in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, an ominous headline from Quartz declares: “This may be the start of the world’s next financial crisis.”