The Australian share market has fallen more than one per cent ahead of Greece’s referendum on bailout conditions.
The share market has pulled back from three consecutive days of gains as investors worry about the potential consequences of Sunday’s Greek vote, CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said.
“The market will be focused on Greece which will likely impact Monday’s session and the early part of next week which is why the market is holding back today,” he said.
“It’s not clear what the potential outcomes will be from a `no’ vote or a `yes’ vote.”
Another negative for the market was a 5.3 per cent fall in the spot iron ore price on Thursday to $US55.80, its lowest level since April.
The major miners and the big four banks have suffered steep falls of more than one per cent.
At 1200 AEST, BHP Billiton dropped 47 cents to $26.53, Fortescue Metals lost 8.25 cents to $1.8275 while Rio Tinto shed 62 cents to $52.41.
Commonwealth Bank dumped $1.06 to $86.39, Westpac dropped 36 cents to $32.65, National Australia Bank fell 61 cents to $33.43 and ANZ declined 56 cents to $32.35.
Meanwhile, Qantas said it would give its workforce $90 million in bonuses following a dramatic turnaround after multi-billion-dollar losses in recent years.
Its shares were down 8.5 cents at $3.185.
Childcare operator G8 Education’s shares were down 3.69 per cent, or 12 cents, at $3.13 after it launched a takeover bid for smaller rival Affinity Education.
Shares in Affinity was up 25 per cent, or 13.5 cents, to 67.5 cents on the news.
KEY FACTS
* At 1200 AEST on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 83.6 points, or 1.49 per cent, at 5,516.2 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 80.5 points, or 1.44 per cent, at 5,507.4 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was down 84 points at 5,459 points, with 15,707 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 507 million securities worth $1.3 billion.
