Europe stocks rise on measures

Stocks rose yesterday after Greece’s parliament passed sweeping austerity measures, but questions about whether the plan will be enough to convince European leaders to support Athens with a new rescue package curbed an initial euro rally.

Key Wall Street indexes were modestly higher and US crude oil prices topped $100 (€76) a barrel after Greek lawmakers backed drastic budget cuts in exchange for a €130bn bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

“There was some apprehension about it, but the fact of the matter is it was done, and it’s given some very real clarity to the markets in terms of what kind of risk Greece represents to the market,” said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.