SYDNEY: Australian stocks rose 1.11 per cent at the open, shrugging off the crisis in Greece as investors went bargain hunting.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was trading 60.8 points higher at 5,535.8 soon after the start, ahead of a hastily arranged emergency summit of the 19 eurozone countries in Brussels.
“Clearly the market sees the risks from Greece as being ring-fenced and unlikely to create contagion. However, I would be vigilant here,” said IG Markets’ strategist Evan Lucas.
“With a muted reaction to the Greece situation from Europe overnight, I would expect a bounce in defensives today after having seen two very solid days of selling,” he added.
In early trade the Australian dollar was fetching 74.87 US cents and 67.77 euro cents, from 75.11 US cents and 67.97 euro cents late Monday.
