UPDATE, 12.15: The share market is more than one per cent weaker after Greek voters rejected Europe’s bailout and austerity package.
The impact of uncertainty about Greece’s future was partly offset by strong gains on China’s market, caused by moves to improve its stability after recent heavy falls.
The S&P/ASX200 and All Ordinaries indices were down more than 1.2 per cent at noon, an improvement from falls of more than 1.8 per cent in early trade.
“I suppose what is encouraging is that the market is recovering from the worst levels of its session,” CommSec market analyst Tom Piotrowski said.
Shares plunged after Greeks overwhelmingly voted against accepting the bailout package put forward by its European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors.
Investment Bank JP Morgan says the odds of the country now leaving the euro zone are two in three.
The early sell-off was reigned in by a positive reaction in China to the country’s latest efforts to shore up its market, which had lost 26 per cent in two weeks.
The Shanghai Composite Index was around four per cent higher at noon (AEST) after the country’s biggest stock brokers agreed to collectively buy at least 120 billion yuan ($A25.56 billion) of shares.
Piotrowski said investors would need to see Chinese stocks stabilise over several sessions before confidence returned.
“What we need to see out of China is rather than big daily intra-day improvements is four to five days of consistent, even modest, improvements,” he said.
All major sectors of the local market were in the red with the exception of gold miners, which tend to do well during periods of uncertainty due to the metal’s safe haven status.
BHP Billiton was down 61 cents at $25.96, Rio Tinto had lost $1.23 to $51.29 and Fortescue Metals was seven cents weaker at $1.75.
Gold miner Newcrest was up 30 cents at $12.85.
Commonwealth Bank was down 88 cents at $85.78, Westpac had retreated 42 cents to $32.34, National Australia Bank had lost 27 cents to $33.44 and ANZ was 32 cents lower at $32.13.
Energy giant AGL was down 32 cents, or two per cent, at $15.50 after flagging another $600 million in writedowns.
