The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the day down 9.7% after another painful day for the share market.
It was another heavy hitting day despite the US Federal Reserve announcing it was cutting interest rates as well as putting some heavy money into quantitative easing.
Here are some of the highlights from the day:
Bank share prices crushed again
The major banks felt a lot of pain today. Investors are very fearful of financial contagion because of the economic hit that the coronavirus is already having on various industries.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price fell 10.1%.
The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price dropped 11.8%.
The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price declined by 12.4%.
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price dropped 12.5%.
Everything else was smashed too
Various shares fell more than 20% today including Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR), Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF), Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB), G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) and Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL).
That was just the worst five performers in the ASX 200.
There were plenty of shares that withdrew their guidance because of the coronavirus. That included Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) which saw its share price fall 19.25%.
Even shares like CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) suffered a share price fall of over 10%.
Supermarkets to the rescue
Both Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL) announced that for the first hour of trading they would allow the elderly and disabled to do their shopping and make sure they get the items they need.
Woolworths will also be shutting its stores by 8pm so that staff can properly restock the store. Coles will hire thousands of extra casual staff to cope with the demand.
The plucky three risers
Within the ASX 200 there were only three shares to register a gain today. They were:
The share price of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH) which rose 4.2%.
The share price of Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) which rose 1.8%.
The share price of Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP) which gained 0.2% after giving a coronavirus update.
