European Markets Continued To Rise As Greek Fears Ease

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Monday's session with modest gains. This extended the winning streak in Europe to nine consecutive sessions. Investor concerns over Greece continued to ease after banks reopened in the debt ridden country.

Banks in Greece partially reopened today after a three-week closure. Capital controls remain in place, but Greeks can now withdraw up to 420 euros a week as opposed to the previous withdrawal limit of 60 euros per day.

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the 7.16 billion euro bridge-loan approved on Thursday would reach Greece by Monday. It is expected that Greece would use the bridge-loan to repay the bond redemption to the ECB and the two missed loan installments to the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF announced that Greece has repaid the roughly 2 billion euros that it owed. After making this payment, Greece is no longer in arrears to the IMF.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 0.44 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.31 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed by 0.53 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose by 0.35 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. gained 0.20 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.39 percent.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank increased by 1.68 percent and Commerzbank added 1.17 percent.

Fresenius climbed by 1.43 percent and Fresenius Medical Care gained 1.44 percent.

Deutsche Telekom rose by 0.97 percent and Deutsche Post finished higher by 1.15 percent.

In Paris, Alstom, which reported growth in first-quarter group sales, climbed by 0.50 percent.

Credit Agricole increased by 1.23 percent and Societe Generale gained 1.05 percent.

Peugeot climbed by 1.87 percent and Renault added 0.63 percent. Car parts maker Valeo also advanced by 2.68 percent.

In London, mining stocks were under pressure after gold and platinum prices fell to 5 year lows. Randgold Resources sank by 4.67 percent and Fresnillo dropped by 4.41 percent. Antofagasta also weakened by 1.54 percent.

Standard Chartered, which announced a new management team, rose by 0.93 percent.

Aveva Group surged by 27.31 percent, after the provider of engineering data and design IT systems said it was acquiring selected Schneider Electric industrial software assets in a debt-free cash basis.

Tullow Oil declined by 5.15 percent, after the energy firm said it would review its 2015 production forecast for Jubilee Field and provide an update on progress at its half yearly results on July 29.

Julius Baer fell by 1.39 percent in Zurich, after the private banking group reported a lower profit for the first half of the year.

Eurozone current account surplus declined in May largely due to a fall in primary income, the European Central Bank said Monday. The current account surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 18 billion from EUR 24 billion in April.

Germany's producer prices declined as expected in June, figures from Destatis showed Monday. Producer prices fell 1.4 percent year-over-year in June, in line with expectations, slightly faster than prior month's 1.3 percent decline. Producer prices have been falling since August 2013.

The average asking price for a house in the United Kingdom was up 0.1 percent on month in July, property tracking website Rightmove said on Monday - coming in at 294,542 pounds. That follows the 3.0 percent jump in June, which was a record high for one month.