Australia shares seen softer, losing grip on 4,500

MELBOURNE: Australian stocks are set to open softer to test the 4,500 level after a weaker finish on Wall Street, though relief that Greece agreed another step towards a debt solution should limit losses.

Stock index futures edged up 1 point to 4,488, a discount of 12.5 points to Thursday's close. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.7 percent on Thursday, sending the index back down to test the 4,500 level on worries about global growth.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 1.6 points in early trade.

On Wall Street, stocks closed way off session lows on news Greece agreed to a five-year austerity plan, but lingering economic uncertainty ultimately drove indexes mostly lower, keeping a downward trend in place.

Copper ended down for a second day as a strengthening dollar and heightened concerns about slowing global economic growth triggered a wave of risk aversion across the commodities complex.

From a bleak assessment of US growth prospects by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday to slower factory sector growth in China and Europe this month, raw material demand prospects remained unclear, spurring investors to reduce exposure in everything from industrials to energies.

Greece won the consent of international lenders on Thursday for a five-year austerity plan intended to avoid looming bankruptcy and its prime minister pledged to push radical economic reforms through parliament.

Copyright Reuters, 2011