European shares surge on Greek debt deal, banks lead
European shares surged on Monday after eurozone leaders reached an agreement to move forward with a bailout loan for Greece following all-night talks in Brussels.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said there would be no Greek exit from the euro currency union, adding that he was convinced that Greek government and the Greek parliament would be able to pass all the decisions agreed at the summit.
"For the markets, it's clearly positive that there is an agreement among the European member states and that there is an atmosphere of co-operation," Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels, said.
"Still, there is a bit of execution risk which may haunt us in terms of volatility."
The eurozone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index hit a two-week high and was up 1.4 percent by 0802 GMT, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.3 percent to 1,563.21 points. Germany's DAX, France's CAC and Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 to 1.6 percent.
The eurozone's banking index advanced 1.6 percent, helped by a 1.8 to 2.5 percent rise in shares of Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and UniCredit .
The region's volatility index hit a two-week low.
Ronny Claeys, senior strategist at KBC Asset Management, said that in the long run, investors will try to find answers to questions such as whether the deal Athens has agreed with its European peers fundamentally resolves the issue of Greece's debt burden.
Shares in mid-cap Alent spiked 44 percent after U.S. chemicals maker Platform Specialty Products Corp said it would buy the British company for about 1.35 billion pounds ($2.09 billion) in cash to expand its portfolio and save costs.
[Reuters]
