The Australian share market regained most of its losses from early in the session but still closed slightly lower as investors fretted over the continuing Greek debt saga.
Default by debt-ridden Greece looked increasingly likely after weekend talks between Athens and its European Union-International Monetary Fund creditors failed to produce a solution.
But the Greek Finance Minister has told a German newspaper that a Greek exit from the euro would not be a sensible solution.
“Greece is the word. There’s a lot of uncertainty washing through the market,” OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said.
Mr Le Brun said investors were also awaiting the meeting of the US Federal Reserve later this week for a more explicit indication of the timing of a possible interest rate hike in the US.
“There’s a lot weighing on investors’ minds at the moment,” Mr Le Brun said.
Trading volumes were low, which indicated that there was not a lot of participation in the market by domestic or international investors.
Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank added 47 cents at $81.89, ANZ gained 14 cents at $31.85, National Australia Bank found 27 cents at $32.53, and Westpac picked up five cents at $31.72.
In the resources sector, global miner and market heavyweight BHP Billiton firmed two cents to $27.92, Rio Tinto advanced 15 cents to $57.29, and Fortescue Metals stepped back two cents to $2.44.
Steelmaker and miner Arrium scraped off one cent to 15 cents after it warned it is set to post a massive full year loss.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was off $1.06 cents at $35.67, and Santos surrendered 22 cents at $8.12.
Free-to-air broadcaster Ten Network dropped 0.5 cents to 26 cents after Foxtel announced it would take a 15 per cent stake in Ten.
Metcash lifted 2.5 cents to $1.13 despite posting a $384 million full year loss.
KEY FACTS
* On Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 6.5 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 5,538.8 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 10.6 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 5,541.5 points.
* The June share price index futures contract was up nine points at 5,543 points, with 118,267 contracts traded.
* The price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,183.70 per fine ounce, up 10 US cents from $US1,183.60 on Friday.
* National turnover was 1.48 billion securities worth $3.75 billion.
