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As prime minister Scott Morrison and chief medical officer Brendan Murphy spoke, the Australian market continued its rise — all the way into the black.

At about 3.30pm the benchmark ASX200 index was up more than 1% from Thursday’s closing price.

Given that the market had plunged to be down as much as 8% at lunchtime, that makes Friday’s rollercoaster ride one of the most extraordinary seen on the Australian market in living memory.



It isn’t clear whether the dramatic turnaround is due to word that Murphy wanted mass gatherings banned leaking, news that the US is preparing a fresh stimulus package or dramatic intervention by the Reserve Bank in the debt market.

And even after the turnaround, losses over the past couple of weeks, including Thursday’s 7.4% tumble, still erase all the gains the market has made since 2016.

