The UK market is rising moderately in afternoon trading Tuesday, as concerns eased about a Greek debt default. Firm cues from Asia and higher U.S. index futures influenced sentiment.
In Greece, Prime Minister George Papandreou is seeking a vote of confidence later today, before the country can muster EU backing for a second bailout package.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.97 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is advancing 0.54 percent.
The FTSE 100 index began trading at 5,693 and has been in positive territory. The index is currently adding 0.74 percent.
Whitbread climbed 6.4 percent after a robust trading update. The company reported a 9.2 percent growth in sales for the 13 weeks ended June 2, helped by strong performance in its coffee shop chain Costa, even as the business was hurt by the extended Easter and Royal Wedding holiday.
BP is rising 2.8 percent. Swiss-based oilfield service company Weatherford International said its U.S. subsidiary has reached an agreement with BP for settlement of claims between the companies related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Miners Antofagasta, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are adding between 3.2 percent and 0.95 percent.
Among lenders, Barclays is adding 1 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland is adding marginally.
SABMiller is falling 3.2 percent. Australian beer maker Foster's Group rejected an unsolicited $9.98 billion acquisition offer from the company. SABMiller ha sreportedly said that it would continue to try.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is adding 0.78 percent and the French CAC 40 is gaining 1.04 percent. Switzerland's SMI is rising 0.54 percent.
In economic news, Germany's economic sentiment dropped more than expected in June, ZEW Centre for European Economic Research said. The corresponding indicator slipped 12.1 points to negative 9 points in June. Economists had expected the indicator to fall to minus 3. The assessment of the current economic situation deteriorated in June from its all-time high by 3.9 points to 87.6 points.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets closed notably higher. Australia's All Ordinaries added 1.17 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.16 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 1.13 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory but off their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 climbed 0.5 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for July delivery is adding $1 to $94.26 per barrel and August gold is rising $2.8 to $1544.8 a troy ounce.
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