SYDNEY: The Australian sharemarket opened more than half a per cent lower, following downbeat US leads and weakness in mining and banking stocks.
At the 10.15am (AEST) official market open, the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was down 32.8 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 5744.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 29.6 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 5745.3 points.
CMC chief market analyst Ric Spooner said local investors had plenty of reasons to be cautious as the next milestone for the Greek debt saga draws near and a lot of potentially significant economic data is slated for release.
“Sentiment towards the Australian dollar is fragile after disappointing data on private capital expenditure this week,” he said.
“Against this background, markets are likely to be sensitive to this morning’s release of local building approvals and business inventories data as well as China’s manufacturing PMI.”
