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By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Greek equities climb as country emerges from bailout

European stocks joined a global march higher for stocks as investors grew optimistic ahead of a week that includes a major U.S.-China trade meeting and appearances by U.S. Federal Reserve officials.

Greek stocks were also on the rise, climbing as the country emerged from a marathon bailout process.

Where are the major benchmarks trading?

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7% to 383.64, after a bruising 1.2% decline last week, its third straight weekly fall. Recent losses have been pegged to concerns over Turkey's currency crisis and sluggish commodity prices.

Opinion: If turmoil spreads in Europe, expect heavy flows into U.S. stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/if-turmoil-spreads-in-europe-expect-heavy-flows-into-us-stocks-2018-08-18)

Germany's DAX 30 , which last week suffered its third consecutive down week and the longest such stretch since February, was among the strongest regional indexes, up nearly 1.2% to 12,356.34.

Greece's ATHEX Composite Share Price Index rose 0.6% to 714.28.

France's CAC 40 gained 0.8% to 5,386.63 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 7,592.53. Italy's FTSE MIB Index was a laggard, flat on the day at 20,433.32.

The euro eased slightly against the dollar, changing hands at $1.1430, compared with $1.1438 late Friday in New York.

What's driving the market?

An eight-year-long Greece bailout drama officially came to an end on Monday, with European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis congratulating Greece for emerging from out of the EU's stability program. However, he also said the country needs "build on this achievement by sticking to sound fiscal and economic policies."

(https://twitter.com/VDombrovskis/status/1031435409711157248)

But while Greece may have been viewed as a positive for the region, nagging worries remain about Italy's economic and political situation. The single-currency bloc will face a big test this autumn (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-the-greece-bailout-ends-worries-shift-to-italy-2018-08-20) when the new Italian government must present a budget. Some Italian banks were sagging, with Banco BPM SpA (BAMI.MI) and Unione de Banche Italiane SpA (UBI.MI) off by 1% each.

Trade optimism lifted global equities, with U.S. stock futures pointing to near multimonth highs (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-inch-up-putting-indexes-near-records-2018-08-20) when markets open later. A report in The Wall Street Journal said negotiators on both sides are mapping out talks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-inch-up-putting-indexes-near-records-2018-08-20) aimed at resolving major differences by November.

Read: Investors may be underestimating the risk stocks face from the midterm elections (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/investors-may-be-underestimating-the-risk-stocks-face-from-the-midterm-elections-2018-08-20)

Investors remained watchful of a continuing currency crisis in Turkey, with the battered lira weakening some again on Monday after Turkey's sovereign credit was downgraded by both S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Investors Service (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-global-moodys-both-downgrade-turkeys-sovereign-ratings-2018-08-17) on Friday.

The Trump administration has rejected an effort by Turkey to link the release of a U.S. pastor with relief for a major Turkish bank facing billions of dollars in U.S. fines, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-inch-up-putting-indexes-near-records-2018-08-20).

What are strategists saying?

"Markets often find it difficult to focus on one topic, and thus with the focus now shifting away from Turkey and towards China, it comes as no surprise that the pessimism of last week is fading into obscurity," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, referring to a meeting this week between the U.S. and China over trade.

But he warned of getting too hopeful over the meeting, given all the previous ones have "shown precious few signs of anything that looks like a breakthrough.

What stocks are in focus?

Driving gains for the DAX and the Stoxx 600 overall were shares of Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) up 3.5%. The German multinational pharmaceutical company tumbled 16% last week after a litigation loss by Bayer-owned Monsanto in California (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bayers-stock-plunges-after-monsanto-ruling-2018-08-13) over whether its herbicide Round-up is carcinogenic.

Oil names were moving higher as Brent crude prices stabilized. Shares of Total SA (TOT) (TOT) rose 1.2%, BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) climbed 0.4%. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) (RDSA.LN) added 0.8%.

Italian infrastructure group Atlantia SpA (ATL.MI) tumbled 6.6% in Milan, as the government has reportedly began a formal move (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-20/atlantia-sinks-as-italy-proceeds-with-revoking-toll-road-license) to yank its toll-highway operation concessions after a highway bridge collapsed in Genoa last week, killing at least 38. The bridge was run by Autostrade per l'Italia, a unit of Atlantia.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2018 10:07 ET (14:07 GMT)

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