Our market is tipped to bounce back this morning as falls on Wall Street in the wake of the escalating Greek crisis were not as bad as the belting we received yesterday.
The futures market is pricing in a 0.6% bounce in the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) at the open as US equity benchmarks slipped less than 0.5% into the red.
In contrast, our market tumbled 1.1% yesterday as Greece took a step closer to leaving the Eurozone after its citizens rejected creditors' demands.
But today's recovery won't be helped by resource stocks as iron ore plunges into a bear market and oil took its biggest beating in five months.
The price of iron ore shed 5.4% to $US52.28 a tonne on higher stockpiles of the material at Chinese ports and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price was slammed 7.7% to $US52.53 a barrel in response to Greece and the potential new crude supply from Iran.
It won't be pretty for iron ore miners Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) or Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), but it's diversified resources giant BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) that will be worse for wear as it is exposed to both the steel making ingredient and crude oil.
The only ones in the sector that are likely to rise today are gold miners like Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), which both gained around 3% each yesterday as investors flocked to the safety of the precious metal.
While all the recent attention has been on iron ore majors and gold stocks, base metal miners such as South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) and Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) are starting to look appealing after their two-month sell-off.
A number of brokers have started to upgrade their recommendations to a "buy" equivalent over the past week or two and I think the stocks look good value for investors with a one-to-two-year investment horizon.
The heavy lifting will have to come from the financial stocks, including the big banks like Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC).
Investors will also be focused on National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) after management said it is making the divestment of its UK bank Clydesdale a priority for this calendar year.
The fact that there is little panic in markets outside of Europe bodes well for the sector as it means limited disruption to global debt markets. Our banks rely heavily on offshore funding to fuel their balance sheets.
But the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) interest rate decision at 2.30pm this afternoon could change market sentiment. Most economists are expecting no change to the 2% cash rate and I am keen to see if the Greek crisis or the ugly crash in China's stock market will have any impact on their deliberations.
Meanwhile, nickel miner Panoramic Resources Ltd (ASX: PAN) announced that it has produced 19,300 tonnes of the commodity in 2014-15, which is a little under its forecast of 19,500 tonnes; while Asian property website owner iProperty Group Ltd (ASX: IPP) released its quarterly cash flow statement.
On the corporate action front, the chances of Rio Tinto divesting its coal assets in the Hunter Valley may have increased as X2 Resources appointed Goldman Sachs to advise it on the possible transaction.
Shareholders in embattled uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) might find some comfort in news of industry consolidation after Canadian peers Denison Mines and Fission Uranium Corp. announced a merger. Industry consolidation will help curtail supply of uranium and should support prices.
Vision Eye Institute Ltd (ASX: VEI) has responded to Pulse Health Limited (ASX: PHG) takeover offer that was announced yesterday by describing it as "unsolicited" and "opportunistic". Vision Eye is telling shareholders to take no action.
