(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)London Close London's blue-chip stocks ended higher after a day dominated by Greece and its creditors. Reports state that Germany made few concessions during the lengthy talks and insisted that €50bn of assets be used to pay down Greece debts. Commentators said that the deal is worse for Greece than the one rejected last week with some speculating that embattled prime minister Alexis Tsipras may find it tough to survive the asset pledge. Connor Campbell at Spreadex reminded investors however that 'currently the 'Greek deal' is nothing but a dream.' Meanwhile Accendo Markets analyst Augustin Eden says a dispute between Eurozone leaders and Greece over debt is far from being solved despite the understanding of a new bailout package. 'A Grexit has been avoided for now' said Eden. 'But there's now a stark realisation that this is the beginning of a very long road for Greece and the Eurozone.' The deal still needs to be passed through all relevant parliaments with Athens and Berlin the main ones to watch according to Chris Beauchamp of IG. First up is Greece which could pass legislation by Wednesday paving the way for a vote in the Bundestag on Friday alongside votes in all of the other member states. The realisation didn't subdue the FTSE 100 however with the index finishing 64 points higher at the close of play to 6737. British Airways owner IAG (LON:IAG) was the best of the risers. Swiss broker UBS raised its view to 'buy' from 'neutral'. It also ramped up the price target to 700p from 580p previously. Shares climbed 3.2% to 547p. Also higher was banking giant Barclays (LON:BARC) after a report suggested it may acquire another bank as part of plans to ring-fence its retail operations while setting up its investment bank as a standalone unit. Shares rose 2.1% to 273p. Away from the index chemical manufacturer Platform Speciality Products (LON:PAH) is nearing the takeover of rival firm Alent (LON:ALNT) for £1.35bn. The two companies reached an agreement whereby Platform will pay 503p cash for each Alent share. Shares in Alent surged 44% to 487p. In small cap news Nostrum Oil & Gas (LON:NOG) is making another approach for Tethys Petroleum (LON:TPL). A share based transaction proposed at a notional 21.85 Canadian cents per share represents a premium of around 15% to the terms of a deal on the table between Tethys and Kazakh group AGR Energy. Tethys shares rose by 24% to 9.62p while Nostrum's lost 4p to 589p. Elsewhere Anglo Asian (LON:AAZ) shares soared as it posted record gold output from its Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan. Shares jumped 5% to 6.3p. Conversely International Personal Finance (LON:IPF) warned there could be financial consequences as a result of potential legal changes in Poland. The existing proposal puts a cap on mandatory non-interest charges but the lower chamber of the Polish department has put a spanner in the works by voting in favour of an amendment that extended the cap to all non-interest costs irrespective of whether they are mandatory. Shares in the home credit and digital loan provider eased 25% to 352p making it one of the day's biggest fallers. US Open US stocks opened higher in early trade boosted by the news that Greece and its creditors have reached an agreement to avoid the country leaving the Eurozone. Although the deal still needs to be passed through all relevant parliaments the news lifted markets across the board and America was no different with the Dow Jones Nasdaq and S&P 500 all climbing just shy of 1%. In takeover talk Halliburton and Baker Hughes agreed to extend the Justice Department's antitrust review period of their US$35bn merger until at least Nov 25. Halliburton will also plan to offer to divest more businesses than it had previously announced in order to get the deal done. Shares in both companies nudged higher although investors will still be cautious until a decision is made. Meanwhile Edwards Lifesciences said it is buying CardiAQ Valve Technologies a privately-held developer of a transcatheter mitral valve replacement system for up to US$400 million including US$350 million in cash. Shares rose 3.5% to US$152. MPLX said it will buy MarkWest Energy Partners for about US$15.8bn creating a master-limited partnership giant with interests in natural gas and crude oil. Shares in MPLX dropped 10% to US$61 while Markwest shares jumped 12% to US$66. On the corporate front late on Friday Ascena cut its full-year earnings outlook citing weaker-than-expected sales at its stores. Shares dropped 13.5% to US$14. Back in the UK the FTSE 100 was 44 points to the good with British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines (LON:IAG) leading the way higher following an upgrade from UBS. The broker bumped up its rating to a 'buy' from a 'hold' and ramped up the price target to 700p from 580p previously. Lunchtime report London's blue-chip stocks continued higher at lunch as investors were buoyed by the news that a deal between Greece and its creditors has been struck. After a 17 hour marathon session leaders were finally able to announce a deal this morning. Chris Beauchamp at IG said: 'Markets have reacted in a suitably ebullient tone if only out of relief that a weekend summit has managed to produce something of sUBStance. 'The hard work is not over – the deal still has to be got through national parliaments with Athens and Berlin being the main ones to watch.' Details were sketchy but European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker's commented 'There will be no Grexit.' Reports state that Germany made few concessions during the lengthy talks and insisted that €50bn of assets be used to pay down Greece debts. While the agreement appears to be a win for creditors and investors it is not quite certain what it means for Greece Beauchamp at IG says. Commentators said that the deal is worse for Greece than the one rejected last week with some speculating that embattled prime minister Alexis Tsipras may find it tough to survive the asset pledge. Understandably since this is what they have been waiting for the Eurozone indices shot up with the French Cac 40 climbing 92 point to 4995 and the German Dax rising 150 points to 11464. Meanwhile in the UK the FTSE 100 climbed 50 points by lunch to sit at 6727. Supermarkets were higher with Morrisons (LON:MRW) leading the risers climbing almost 3% to 177p while Tesco (LON:TSCO) and Sainsbury's (LON:SBRY) both gained more than 1.5%. Almost all of companies on the FTSE 100 were in the blue with the exception of a few. Silver miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES) occupied the bottom spot easing 1.1% to 664p. Away from the index chemical manufacturer Platform Speciality Products (LON:PAH) is nearing the takeover of rival firm Alent (LON:ALNT) for £1.35bn. The two companies reached an agreement whereby Platform will pay 503p cash for each Alent share. Shares in Alent surged 44% to 485.4p. Meanwhile in other takeover news Nostrum Oil & Gas (LON:NOG) is making another approach for Tethys Petroleum (LON:TPL). A share based transaction proposed at a notional 21.85 Canadian cents per share represents a premium of around 15% to the terms of a deal on the table between Tethys and Kazakh group AGR Energy. Tethys shares rose by 24% to 9.66p. Elsewhere Anglo Asian (LON:AAZ) shares soared as it posted record gold output from its Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan. Shares jumped 16% to 7p. Conversely International Personal Finance (LON:IPF) warned there could be financial consequences as a result of potential legal changes in Poland. Shares in the home credit and digital loan provider eased 14% to 401p. Most followed The heady days of strong home support for Greece's continued defiance of the imposition by the EU of austerity measures seem a long time ago. The ploy by Alexis Tsipras to strengthen his hand in negotiations with the country's paymasters may have backfired spectacularly with Europe's finance ministers responding to the outflanking attempt by forming a formidable redoubt. A bailout deal has been agreed and there was pointed mention in the official statement released this morning following the Euro Summit of the need for Greece to rebuild trust. The Greek government has been given until Wednesday to pass laws increasing tax revenues through a streamlining of the value added tax (VAT) system and to overhaul the pension system. The finance ministers also included a requirement for 'quasi-automatic spending cuts' - whatever they are - in case of 'deviations from ambitious primary surplus targets'. Another slug of measures have to be implemented by 22 July including more ambitious product market reformed 'with a clear timetable of all OECD tool kit-I recommendations including Sunday trade sales periods pharmacy ownership milk and bakeries except over-the-counter pharmaceuticals products' as well as the opening of closed professions such as ferry transportation. Privatisation of the electricity transmission network operator is on the agenda with other privatisations to follow as is a shake-up of labour markets. The markets have loved the settlement but the response in Greece is likely to be far more equivocal. 'At least Alexis Tsipras avoided having to send Greece's fairest one hundred maidens in tribute to Berlin. Apart from that the Greek prime minister has had to concede on pretty much everything the other members of the euro demanded' was the acerbic comment from the Financial Times. The New York Times notes that with the Greek question resolved for the time being – where's that image of a sledgehammer and a walnut when you need it - the 'German question' is back. That question is: how to deal with German power The question has existed in different forms since 1945 reckons columnist Roger Cohen who argues that if the euro was designed to bind Germany to Europe it has instead ended up binding far-weaker European countries to Germany. There is other news around this morning but it is taking a back-seat to the Greek bailout. Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity is on the rise with speciality chemicals firm Alent (LON:ALNT) succumbing to a bid approach from chemicals maker Platform Specialty. Meanwhile Nostrum Oil & Gas (LON:NOG) is taking another crack at Tethys Petroleum (LON:TPL). A share based transaction proposed at a notional 21.85 Canadian cents per share represents a premium of around 15% to the terms of a deal on the table between Tethys and Kazakh group AGR Energy. In other oil sector news MX Oil (LON:MXO) has agreed to invest in an indirect non-operated 5% revenue interest in the OML 113 licence offshore Nigeria. The licence includes the Aje field a sUBStantial development stage project with proven flow tested discoveries where production is expected by January 2016 MX said. Shares dipped 5% to 4.28p as the company announced it has raised £6mln through the issue of 133.33mln shares placed at 4.5p a pop. London open Markets across Europe rocketed higher as a marathon 17-hour session finally produced a debt deal between Greece and its creditors. Details were sketchy but European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker's comment 'There will be no Grexit' was enough to put fifty points on the FTSE100 to 6723. Other European stocks rose sharply in relief that any kind of deal had been agreed though tit will still have to be ratified by a number of European parliaments. Jeroen Dijsselbloem the head of the Eurozone group of finance ministers said a €50bn (£36bn) asset disposal fund would be established half of which would be used to recapitalise the country's banks. Alexis Tsipras Greece's increasingly embattled PM also has to sell the package to his own left-wing party with commentators this morning suggesting it may be tough for him to survive the asset pledge. Germany made few concessions during the lengthy talks and reportedly insisted that €50bn of assets being used to pay down Greece debts. Almost all of companies on the FTSE 100 were in the blue with the exception of miners all of which occupied the bottom seven places. Gold miner Randgold (LON:RRS) and silver producer Fresnillo (LON:FRES) were worst hit though the falls were mild at around 1%. British Airways owner IAG (LON:IAG) was the best of the risers. Swiss broker UBS raised its view to 'buy' from 'neutral'. It also ramped up the price target to 700p from 580p previously. Among the small caps Nostrum Oil & Gas (LON:NOG) is muscling in on the partnership between Tethys and AGR Energy with a prospective bid offer. A share based transaction proposed at a notional 21.85 Canadian cents per share represents a premium of around 15% to the terms of a deal on the table between Tethys and Kazakh group AGR Energy. Tethys shares rose by 23% to 9.54p. Anglo Asian (LON:AAZ) shares soared as it posted record gold output from its Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan. Output for the six months to end June came in at 35938 ounces with 23436 ounces from the agitation leach plant 12488 ounces from heap leach operations and 14 ounces from SART the miner said. Shares jumped 26% to 7.56p. Pre-Open The prospect of another break break-down in Greek debt negotiations has UK investors nervous despite strength overnight of Asian markets. Spread betting quotes point to a dive of around 40 points or so for the FTSE 100 which closed at 6673 on Friday. Asian markets have advanced across the board this morning with the Shanghai Composite leading the way up 2.9% at 3990. The rules introduced by the authorities to put an end to tumbling share prices seem to be working and the Shanghai index rose for the third session in a row. The listings of a large proportion of stocks in Shanghai still remain suspended but the number is down from last week Gains in Hong Kong were more modest with the Hang Seng index up 0.3% at 24976 towards the end of trading. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was 1.8% better at 20098. In Europe the almost total capitulation of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to the country's creditors appears imminent; Tsipras famously emerges from negotiations without a tie; he may well emerge from the next set without his shirt. In the UK the week is set to feature trading updates from a number of retail giants but Monday is shaping up to be a quiet day for corporate news flow.
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