European stock markets rise on Greece

European stock markets rose on Tuesday, as eurozone finance ministers looked set to sign off more bailout cash for Greece before the end of the month.

Eurozone finance ministers on Monday gave themselves until May 24 to reach a deal on debt relief and unlocking bailout cash for Greece as they lauded Athens for passing tough reforms.

The 19 Eurogroup ministers meeting in Brussels failed to sign off on the long-delayed first review of last July's 86-billion-euro ($95 billion) EU-IMF bailout -- but said this could be done in the "coming days".

"The post-Eurogroup cheer continued to lift the European markets... with more and more sources praising the progress made," said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group.

Around 1015 GMT, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.8 percent compared with Monday's close.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index and the Paris CAC 40 were both 1.0-percent higher in early afternoon deals.

Travel stocks enjoyed solid gains as British no-frills airline EasyJet hiked its dividend despite falling into a loss, while Dubai's carrier Emirates posted a 56-percent jump in annual profits.

In London, shares in EasyJet jumped 2.0 percent to 1,499 pence, helping to boost its rivals' stock value. Deutsche Lufthansa jumped 2.7 percent to 12.83 euros.

"EasyJet is making a bullish bet on its future by raising the dividend, judging that passenger numbers will continue to rise even while it acknowledges the knock the sector is taking from recent terror attacks" in Brussels and Paris, noted Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital.

In Asia, Tokyo led markets higher Tuesday as exporters were lifted by a weakening yen, while tighter Chinese inflation data also provided some cheer, dealers said.

Elsewhere, oil prices bounced back, having plunged Monday as the biggest threat to Canada's crude reserves seemed to be over with rain and cooler temperatures slowing fires that have raged for more than a week.

On Wall Street, strong gains for pharma and health care shares Monday offset sharp declines in oil-linked companies.

- Key figures around 1015 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 6,163.16

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.0 percent at 10,086.50

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.0 percent at 4,365.88

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.5 percent at 2,998.85

Tokyo: Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 16,565.19 (close)

Shanghai: UP 1.07 points at 2,832.59 (close)

Hong Kong: UP 0.4 percent at 20,242.68 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 17,705.91 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1376 from $1.1381 Monday

Dollar/yen: UP at 109.25 yen from 108.34 yen