European stock markets extended strong gains on Thursday following Greece's approval of austerity measures needed to unlock critical bailout funding and stave off a debt default.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top shares jumped 1.53 per cent to 5,945.71 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX gained 1.13 per cent to 7,376.24 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 1.48 per cent to 3,982.21 points.
"The recent rise in European markets has continued today as markets end the month, quarter and first half of 2011 on a positive note, with oil and banking sectors leading the gainers as fears about an imminent Greek default get pushed out beyond the release of the next tranche of bailout funds," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson .
The Greek parliament approved Thursday measures to implement 28.4 billion euros ($41 billion) in unpopular budget cuts and tax hikes despite street protests that turned violent this week.
The EU quickly said in response that Greece had now met conditions for the release of the next installment of 12 billion euros of bailout funds under under its 110-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout package agreed last year.
Athens faced the prospect of default in July if the bailout funds had been held back.
The Greek vote will also allow talks to proceed on a second bailout package expected to total a similar amount to ensure Athens has sufficient funding for the next three years.
News that German banks will take part in a second Greek debt rescue package also helped improve market sentiment, as did moves by Portugal and Italy to further tighten their budgetary belts.
Brussels ended the day up 0.97 per cent, Amsterdam rose 1.3 per cent, Milan climbed 1.62 per cent, Madrid jumped 2.13 per cent and Lisbon soared 3.03 per cent.
London was also supported by news that Lloyds bank will axe 15,000 more jobs and that the London Stock Exchange is once more a likely takeover target.
Lloyds, which is 41-per cent state-owned after a massive bailout, said it will axe 15,000 jobs in a drastic cost-cutting plan that will halve its international base and save £1.5 billion (1.66 billion euros, $2.4 billion) per year by 2014.
In response, LBG rocketed to the top of the FTSE 100 index, gaining 9.73 per cent to 49 pence as investors welcomed news of the measures.
Off the FTSE 100, the London Stock Exchange saw its share price jump 10.98 per cent to 1,061 pence, one day after The LSE and Toronto's bourse scrapped plans to merge after failing to win support from two-thirds of their shareholders.
"Shares in the London Stock Exchange rallied .. as investors speculated that the firm may become bid prey to Nasdaq OMX, having seen its multi-billion bid for Canada's TMX fall by the wayside," said analyst Giles Watts at City Index.
Nasdaq failed to take over LSE in in 2006 and 2007.
"Investors are now speculating that the firm's failure to secure a deal with the Canadian Exchange operator at a time of huge competition and subsequent consolidation within the sector makes it vulnerable," Watts added.
Wall Street also rallied on the Greek vote, with the Dow Jones Industrial average gaining 1.18 per cent to stand at 12,406.05 points at 1600 GMT.
The broader S&P 500 rose 0.94 per cent to 1,319.74 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.19 per cent to 2,773.21 points.
Asian stock markets closed higher on Thursday after Greek lawmakers gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to the key package of spending cuts and tax hikes aimed at helping Athens avoid a catastrophic default.
Hong Kong gained 1.53 per cent, Tokyo added 0.19 per cent, Shanghai was up 1.23 per cent and Sydney rose 1.73 per cent.
