MARKETS PERFORMED strong- ly as Greek leaders finally struck a deal to cut as much as €100 billion of its debt and the European Central Bank said it saw a more positive economic outlook and left its base interest rate at a record low.

All the main stock exchanges closed up as the Athens government agreed austerity measures required to secure further rescue funds from the troika of the ECB, the EU Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

DUBLIN

THE ISEQ closed up 0.4 per cent. The biggest movers were Aer Lingus which rose 5.2 per cent, or 5 cent, to 94 cent, and drugs company Elan which declined 3.7 per cent, or 38 cent, to €10.05 a share.

Building materials and DIY company Grafton rose 3.1 per cent or 8 cent, to €2.80, while United Drug was up for a third day after a positive trading update, rising 2.9 per cent, or 6 cent to €2.14 a share.

Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa shed a little value after a stellar performance on Wednesday on the back of its strong 2011 financial results. The share price fell 0.5 per cent, or 4 cent, to €7.26 a unit.

LONDON

UK STOCKS rose, ending a three-day run of declines, after the Greek deal and the Bank of England raised its target for bond purchases.

The FTSE 100 increased 19.5 points or 0.3 per cent, an increase of 19 per cent from last year’s low at the start of October.

Bank of England policymakers raised the target for bond purchases to £325 billion (€387 million), more than a quarter of the outstanding government bonds.

The bank set the money presses rolling again, saying it will pump a further £50 billion into the economy to bolster a fragile recovery and shield Britain from fallout from the unresolved euro zone debt crisis.

The decision to print more money to buy government bonds comes despite signs Britain may avoid slipping back into recession and fresh hopes that a deal for a €130 billion bailout for Greece will ease euro zone turmoil.

Oil and gas company BG rose 3.2 per cent after saying that it planned to sell $5 billion of assets over the next two years.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline gained 1.2 per cent, while mining group Rio Tinto fell 1.5 per cent after reporting a loss in the second half of last year.

EUROPE

Shares on European markets rose to almost six-month highs after declining over the previous three days of trading.

The stocks gained on the back of encouraging US economic data and the ECB leaving open the possibility of helping Greece and maintaining its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1 per cent.

ECB president Mario Draghi hinted that it could help Greece by handing back profits on Greek bonds it holds and that it could replicate such action for all euro zone countries.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares increased 0.3 per cent after touching the highest level since early August earlier in the day.

National stock indexes posted gains in 12 of the 18 western European markets.

France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.4 per cent, while Germany’s DAX increased 0.6 per cent.

Belgian bank KBC, owner of a banking subsidiary in Ireland, increased 8.2 per cent after saying it was required to pay back only two-thirds of its state aid by 2013.

Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, jumped to the highest in six months after reporting a 39 per cent rise in quarterly profits.

Germany fashion group Hugo Boss climbed as fourth-quarter operating income beat analysts’ estimates, while Swiss bank Credit Suisse fell 3.5 per cent after posting an unexpected loss.

US

STOCKS IN the US edged higher after Greece reached the deal to secure a further financial bailout.

Technology shares, led by Apple, gave a lift to the Nasdaq index and were the session’s strongest sector. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.19 per cent, while the Standard Poor’s 500 Index was up 0.28 per cent.

Well over 75 per cent of SP 500 stocks are trading above their 26-week moving average.

Stocks performed strongly after new data showed that jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week.

This came a week after a report showed joblessness dropped to a three-year low last month and spurred gains in the confidence of US consumers.

Visa, the biggest payments network, rose 5 per cent as profit soared. Akamai Technologies, an operator of a server network that lets businesses speed data delivery, surged 10 per cent.

Groupon, the largest daily-deal site, tumbled 13 per cent after reporting an unexpected tax-related loss.

Oil prices rose 1 per cent. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)