Australia shares seen sliding on Greek debt, US growth fears

MELBOURNE: Australian shares are likely to open lower on Monday, heading toward the year's low hit a week ago, on worries about US growth and the Greek debt crisis ahead of a key vote this week on austerity measures.

Stock index futures fell 0.9 percent to 4,456.0, a 52.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. The benchmark firmed 0.2 percent on Friday and posted its first weekly gain in five weeks.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 7.9 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,447.7 in early trade.

Shares in fund manager Perpetual may come under pressure after its star fund manager John Sevior was quoted as saying he may not return to the fund following a six-month break starting in July.

Wall Street dropped for a third day on Friday on worries about the Italian banking sector and Greece's debt crisis, but the S&P 500 managed to hold its 200-day moving average in a sign buyers still see value.

Copper ended up over one percent on Friday, as demand prospects brightened in top-consumer China after comments from Premier Wen Jiabao signaled a potential shift in the country's monetary policy trends. Gold fell on Friday, crashing through key technical supports.

The French government and banks have agreed on a proposal to make a Greek debt rollover more palatable to creditors, a banking source said on Sunday, confirming a report in Le Figaro newspaper.

Copyright Reuters, 2011