Hung Parliament may be bad for Australia's currency, stocks

Uncertainty about the outcome of Australia's federal election is likely to weigh on the nation's currency and stocks, says Shane Oliver, senior economist at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney.

"Coming at a time of renewed concerns regarding the global economic outlook, the Australian election outcome will likely add to local investor nervousness in the short term," Oliver said in a note to investors.

Fears of a "possible drift towards less business-friendly policies" from the increased power of the Greens, and concern about whether a minority government could pursue long-term reforms "will all likely add to jitters in the Australian sharemarket and the Australian dollar in the week ahead", Oliver said.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition leader Tony Abbott have vowed to fight to form the next government after neither party gained an outright majority in a national election for the first time in 70 years.

With 74.7 per cent of the vote counted on a two-party preferred basis, Gillard's Labor Party had 71 seats and Abbott's Liberal-National coalition had 71 in the 150-member House of Representatives, according to figures on the Australian Electoral Commission website.

Four seats were undecided while three independents and one Greens party member were elected. Seventy-six seats in the Lower House are needed to form a government.

- Bloomberg