A protest vote against the main parties in Greece will add to political instability in the now severely fractured Greek parliament and could endanger the country's vital international bailout.

The value of Canadian building permits increased by almost five per cent to $6.8 billion in March, highest point since June 2010.

Political upheavals in Europe, including a new anti-austerity president in France and a Greek election that created a fractured parliament, are rattling economic markets and adding uncertainty to plans for eurozone spending cuts.

Bank of Montreal is setting up an office in the United Arab Emirates, expanding its asset management and investment banking business in the Middle East and North Africa.

Asian stock markets have been pummelled by election results in Greece and France that heightened uncertainty about Europe's ability to solve its debt crisis.