ASX 200 drops 6.4%, rallies at the end of the day

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) fell by 6.4% today after rallying push late in the afternoon after an RBA announcement.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dropped another 6.4% in what was another painful day for the Australian index. However, it rallied a little after the RBA said it would make an announcement tomorrow.

Australia was told that 100-person gatherings would no longer be allowed and that Aussies shouldn't travel abroad.

Why did the market drop so hard?

There was widespread pain among the large blue chips, with most of them suffering falls of at least 5%.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price fell 9.7%, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price dropped 5.5%, the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price dropped 8.6%, the Macquarie Group Limited (ASX: MQG) share price fell almost 13%, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price dropped 7.8% and the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price declined 9.9%.  

Many companies withdrew guidance

Previous guidance become meaningless for plenty of companies. Some falls were:

The Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) update caused the share price to drop 10.9%.

The Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) update caused the share price fall 10.8%.

The ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO) update wasn't enough to stop the share price to decline 10.3%.

The Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) update caused the share price to fall 8.6%.

Trading of Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ) shares was suspended so it could get a better grip on the situation.

There were some positives too

However, it wasn't all doom and gloom today. There were quite a few updates that sent share prices higher.

Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB) released an update which sent the share price 13.5% higher.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH) upgraded its guidance which caused the share price to rise.

OFX Group Ltd (ASX: OFX) also announced a pleasing update, which sent the share price higher by 13.7%.

The share price of Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) increased almost 17% after making its announcement.

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Elmo Software. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BUBS AUST FPO, Elmo Software, and Ramsay Health Care Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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