After just one session of resilience, the international bulls laid down their arms overnight.

Losses traversed both sides of the pond, with European and US markets suffering at the hands of investors nervous about the political ructions in Greece.

In London the UK's FTSE 100 shed 110 points (-2%) to settle at 5466, whilst the French CAC (-2.3%) and German DAX (-1.9%) were also weaker.

Stateside, the Dow Jones dropped 125 points (-1%) to settle at 12695, whilst the S&P (-1.1%) and tech-heavy Nasdaq (1.1%) suffered similar falls.

The Aussie dollar fell sharply, slipping below parity with the greenback to presently be trading around 0.9970, whilst the euro dropped to its lowest level in almost four months as a leadership vacuum in Greece prompted European officials to weigh prospects for the currency union's first departure of a member state.

Oil fell to the lowest level in almost five months amid growing speculation that Greece may leave the euro currency union and as Saudi Arabia's oil minister said prices should decline further.

Crude for June delivery fell $1.35 to $94.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since Dec. 19. Futures are down 14 percent from this year's closing high of $109.77 on Feb. 24.

Gold erased its gains for this year as concern that Europe's debt crisis is deepening strengthened the dollar and cut gold's appeal as an alternative asset. Other precious metals also declined.

In company news, Mirabela Nickel announced a $120 million capital raising. Resources Capital Fund will be allocated $20 million at $0.40 a share, with the remainder to be offered to current shareholders at $0.30 a share.

Today's session will bring us the latest monetary policy meeting minutes and new motor vehicle sales, at 11:30am, AEDT.

To Access FREE Daily Trading Recommendations, Click Here!

Morning Market Analysis: The Rot Continues is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog