At lunch on Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week with a heavy decline. The benchmark index is currently down 2.1% to 6,451.5 points.
Here's what is happening on the ASX 200 today:
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GUD shares crushed on guidance downgrade
The GUD Holdings Limited (ASX: GUD) share price has been sold off today in response to a guidance update. As you might have guessed from the share price reaction, that update was not a good one. The diversified products company has downgraded its underlying operating earnings guidance to $147 million in FY 2022. This is down from its previous guidance of $155 million to $160 million. In response to the news, Citi downgraded its shares and slashed its price target.
Tech shares tumble
The tech sector has been hit hard today during the market selloff. The likes of Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) are recording particularly heavy declines following a poor night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index. This has led to the S&P ASX All Technology index dropping a sizeable 2.8% at the time of writing.
Gold miner rise
One side of the market which is performing positively is the gold sector. This has seen the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index storm 3.3% higher today. The highlight has been the Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price with a 5% gain. This has been driven by a rebound in the gold price and a broker upgrade by UBS. The latter saw Evolution upgraded to a buy rating with a $4.05 price target.
Best and worst ASX 200 performers
The best performer on the ASX 200 on Friday has been the Evolution share price with a 5% gain for reasons mentioned above. Going the other way, the worst performer by some distance has been the GUD share price with a 21% decline. This follows its guidance downgrade and bleak outlook commentary.
