US stocks have sunk as speculation about Greece's potential exit from the eurozone continues after the country's political parties failed to forge a government.
The Australian dollar rose back slightly above parity with the US dollar after a boost in late afternoon trade on official data showing Germany avoided a recession.
A drop in the Australian currency below parity with the US dollar and a recent cut in domestic interest rates will help manufacturers, the Australian Industry Group says.
Slowing economic growth, inflation, and interest rate hikes by commercial banks gave the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) the impetus to cut the cash rate in May.
Australian stocks have opened lower, with local market players taking their cues from a poor night on Wall Street as the political gridlock in Greece dominated trading.
US stocks have closed firmly in the red as Greece's political stalemate and Spain's banking problems drove new fears about the strength of the eurozone.
The once-mighty Aussie dollar is losing purchasing power as it slips below its US counterpart, but TVs and electrical gadgets are likely to stay dirt cheap - for a while at least.
Local stocks have opened firmer with market players buoyed by the Chinese central bank's actions to support lending in one of Australia's key trading partners.
US stocks took a beating last week, only to face more turbulence from Europe as Greece grapples with rising political uncertainty that could cost the country's crucial EU-IMF bailout.
Fears of a new financial crisis in the wake of Greece's elections have dragged the Australian dollar perilously close to parity with its US counterpart.
The High Court will hear a class action by customers of the ANZ Bank alleging it charged excessive fees for overdrafts, overdrawn accounts, dishonour fees and over-the-limit credit card accounts.
US stocks mostly bounced back slightly after a six-day losing streak, amid hopes that Greece's moderate socialists might be able to form a government and avoid a new eurozone debt crisis.
The chief economist of one of the nation's biggest financial service companies says the federal budget will not help Australia's economic growth and risks damaging the effectiveness of superannuati
The Australian share market has closed higher, boosted by a better-than-expected unemployment rate and expectations that another cut to interest rates will be forthcoming despite the stronger jobs
National Australia Bank's net profit for the six months to March 31 fell 15.5 per cent to $2.05 billion due to its underperforming operations in the United Kingdom.
US stocks have pared early sharp losses to close with moderate falls after European Union (EU) officials confirmed that Greece would get the next installment of bailout funds this week.
Fears gripping global markets have seen the Australian dollar fall almost one US cent and could could sink it below parity with its American counterpart in the next few days.
The Australian share market has closed lower over the uncertain future of austerity measures aimed at stabilising some debt-ridden countries in the euro zone, especially Greece.
