MONDAY MARKET CLOSE: Shares buoyed after Greek breakthrough

Stocks climbed higher after Greece reached agreement with its European creditors on a new rescue deal to avoid an exit from the single currency.

However, the terms will be painful for Greeks and their left-wing government, which will have to pass a raft of austerity measures – including sales tax increases and reforms to pensions – before it can access €85 billion in bailout cash and support for banks to reopen.

IG market analyst Alastair McCaig said: “Patience towards Greece and its aggressive haggling tactics has been eroded over the past few weeks, and a number of measures were subsequently added to the criteria that the country will need to meet. Investors, meanwhile, remember that making assumptions about Greek politics has been a particularly precarious game of late.”

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Nevertheless, the breakthrough helped the FTSE 100 Index gain 64.57 points to finish the session at 6,737.95 – an increase of almost 1 per cent.

On a rather quiet day for corporate news, International Airlines Group was the biggest gainer among the blue chips, climbing 18p or 3.4 per cent to 549p, after last week’s agreement by low-cost carrier Ryanair to sell its stake in Aer Lingus to the British Airways parent.

Shares in Collagen Solutions, the Aim-quoted life sciences firm, closed up 0.5p or 5.4 per cent at 9.75p after the Glasgow-based company insisted it was on track to achieve a £100m valuation by 2020.

Staying in Glasgow, temporary power provider Aggreko ticked up 11p to 1,453p. The group is to ask shareholders at next year’s annual meeting to approve the appointment of KPMG as its new auditor, replacing incumbent PwC, following a formal tender process.

The heaviest Footsie faller was gas producer BG Group, down 9.5p at 1,071p.

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