Greece to form new government after violent protests: Midday Roundup

Greece Prime Minister, George Papandreou said he will form a new cabinet and seek a vote of confidence from his Socialist party after violent protests against an austerity bill took place at the Parliament’s front steps in Athens yesterday.

The move follows Papandreou’s offer to step down and form a unity government with opposition parties. It also comes after credit ratings agency S&P downgraded Greece’s credit rating from BBB to C, indicating a higher risk of default.

Services across the country have also been halted after the country’s two major workers’ unions declared a nation-wide strike.

“Tomorrow I will form a new government and then I will ask for a vote of confidence,” he said yesterday in a televised address.

“I will continue on the same course. This is the road of duty together with PASOK’s parliamentary group, its members, and the Greek people.”

The vote of confidence could be held on Sunday, various reports have claimed.

Shares drop over 1% after Wall Street fall on Greece fears

The Australian sharemarket has opened over 1% lower today after Wall Street stocks fell to a 12-week low on new fears the Greek debt crisis could expand into other countries.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 56 points or 1.23% to 4510.7 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian dollar also opened lower at $US1.05c.

AMP shares dropped 2.69% to $4.71, while Commonwealth Bank shares fell 1.13% to $49.75. NAB lost 1.01% to $24.40 as Westpac fell 2.02% to $21.30.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179 points or 1.5% to 11,897.27.

Motor vehicle sales fall 7.6% in May

The number of motor vehicles sold in May has declined by a seasonally adjusted 7.6% to 76,732, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show that over the year to May, sales have dropped by 14.5%.

Sales fell in all states and territories when compared with April figures, with Victoria recording the largest fall at 12.3%, followed by the Australian Capital Territory at 8.5% and Queensland at 7.3%.

Telstra invests $800m in cloud services

Telstra will invest more than $800 million in cloud computing over the next five years, the company said in an announcement made this morning.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey said there was a growing demand from Australian organisations for cloud services.

Some of the corporate customers who will now be using Telstra cloud computing include Oz Minerals, Tabcorp and Australian Vintage Limited.

“Sales of our T-Suite software-as-a-service have grown threefold for the past year and use of our infrastructure cloud has increased by nearly 50% this year,” Thodey said in a statement.

“We are also experiencing strong sales in our cloud voice and video services, which are exceeding 80% per year and we now manage more than 100,000 IP telephony services delivered from the cloud.”

Commonwealth Bank denies IAG bid

The Commonwealth Bank has released a statement saying that at no point did it consider bidding on Insurance Australia Group in a transaction worth $7 billion.

“Commonwealth Bank of Australia wishes to clarify that, contrary to the implications contained in today’s media reports, it has no current interest, nor has it ever had any interest, in acquiring Insurance Australia Group,” the company said in a statement.

The statement is in response to reports that suggested chief executive Ralph Norris was considering the bid.