Aust market set for further falls

The Australian sharemarket could slide into correction territory as Greece's debt crisis rolls on.

Australian Stock Exchange.

The Australian share market has dropped in response to the Greek crisis. (AAP) Source: AAP

Investors are bracing for further slides on the Australian sharemarket as Greece heads towards a default on its debt that could lead to its exit from the eurozone.

The futures market suggests the S&P ASX/200 will open around 0.6 per cent lower on Tuesday, which would see the index drop to around 5,390 points.

That's more than 10 per cent below its high of 5,998 in April, putting the index officially in correction territory.

Almost $40 billion was wiped from the Australian sharemarket on Monday in one of its worst sessions in years as part of a global selloff that continued overnight.

Wall Street contracted sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 350 points, or almost two per cent, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each down by more than two per cent.

Things were even worse in Europe, where Germany's DAX 30 plunged 3.7 per cent and Paris's CAC 40 dived 3.7 per cent, while London's FTSE 100 dropped two per cent.

Greece is due to repay 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund by early Wednesday morning (Australian time) but looks set to miss the payment and default on the debt.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called a referendum on whether to accept a bailout and reform package from the country's European Union and IMF creditors and is urging citizens to vote against the package.

That could precipitate the country's departure from the eurozone, which could involve a messy transition away from the euro currency and create turmoil on global markets.

Mr Tsipras's government has closed the country's banks for a week and restricted withdrawals from ATMS to 60 euros per person per day to avoid a collapse of the country's financial system.


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Source: AAP


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