European markets buoyed by Greece

Stock markets in Europe continue to ride the wave of optimism surrounding the Greek debt deal on Tuesday June 23rd. On Monday, European equities positively boomed on revitalised hopes that a deal may finally be forged between Greece and its European creditors. However, officials sought to slightly temper that mood on Tuesday.

A number of European indexes surged to their highest levels in three weeks. Germany’s DAX climbed nearly 1.1 per cent by midday, the French CAC 40 gained almost 1.3 per cent and the Euro Stoxx 50 was more than 1.1 per cent higher. Meanwhile, the UK’s FTSE-100 was around 0.25 per cent in positive territory.

ING’s Carsten Brzeski said that yesterday’s more cooperative approach should help technical work to resume “under a better omen”, with the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) support.

“The next steps will be Wednesday’s Eurogroup meeting and the European summit on Thursday and Friday,” he explained. “Judging from yesterday’s events, it seems as if all players involved have finally started with constructive negotiations. This strengthens our view that a Grexit will be avoided, at least this time around.”

Meanwhile, stocks were also buoyed by figures on Tuesday showing that business growth in the eurozone accelerated to a four-year high.

Markit’s composite flash PMI index rose to 54.1 in June, up from 53.6 last month and surpassing consensus estimates.

"This is a decent upturn in terms of business activity, demand and jobs growth and points to 0.4 per cent economic growth in the second quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

Activity in France drove growth in the whole eurozone region higher, which is being lauded as clear signs that the ECB’s quantitative easing scheme is working.

"You've got a lot of ECB stimulus going on at the moment and we saw signs of that helping drive upturns in business and consumer confidence, and so that stimulus is paying dividends," Mr Williamson noted.