European markets finally close after getting crushed

Well, that was quite a day. There was enough market carnage for Damien McBride, a former aide to Gordon Browne, to start tweeting about stocking up on food.

Markets all around the world were roiled by China's "Black Monday," which saw the Shanghai Composite Index fall around 8.5%.

The FTSE dropped like a stone, well below the 6,000 mark. It fell 4.72% or 292.15 points to 5,895.50.

Here's what it looked like:

Investing.com

The day wasn't as bad as the height of the 2008 financial crisis, but it was looking like it could hold its own with some of the worst FTSE falls out there.

RBS Economics tweeted this chart:

RBS Economics

At one point the FTSE crashed by more than 6.5%, after panic gripped US markets at the open. The S&P 500 index fell off a cliff, but then rallied strongly:

Investing.com

Shares across Europe were swept up in the fear-driven selling. The Euro Stoxx 50 index crashed down more than 5%.

Investing.com