(MENAFN- AFP) Europe's main stock markets mostly rose Monday after Greece's radical left-wing Syriza party won elections, boosting hopes Athens would stick to austerity reforms agreed under its bailout, dealers said.
London's FTSE 100 index advanced 0.53 percent to stand at 6,136.70 points in midday deals and the CAC 40 in Paris won 0.78 percent to 4,571.40 compared with Friday's close.
Milan climbed 0.67 percent and Madrid added 0.20 percent in value, but Athens dropped 0.51 percent.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index shed 0.67 percent to 9,850.10 points, as German carmaker Volkswagen said it will halt sales of VW and Audi diesel cars in United States, where it has been rocked by a fake emissions scam.
On Sunday, Greece's prime minister-elect Alexis Tsipras won a thumping poll victory that hands him a mandate to drive through unpopular reforms agreed under an austerity deal struck with international creditors.
The unexpected margin of his victory Sunday came after a mutiny within the ranks of his radical Syriza party over a U-turn on tough tax hikes and pension reforms felled his government, sending Greek voters to the ballot box for the third time this year.
- Close to absolute majority -
With 99 percent of votes counted -- the final results could take hours to come -- Syriza won close to an absolute majority in the country's 300-seat parliament.
"Yet another Syriza victory in the Greek election ... ostensibly secures the continued implementation of the measures agreed in the latest bailout," noted Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
Tsipras, who had justified the austerity deal he signed in July with European leaders as saving Greece from a chaotic exit from the eurozone, said the election victory would "change the balance" in Europe and strengthen Greece's fight against endemic corruption and hidden wealth.
In foreign exchange activity on Monday, the European single currency eased to $1.1289, compared with $1.1299 late in New York on Friday.
"The outcome from this weekend's Greek parliamentary election is unlikely to have a material impact on the euro," noted currency analyst Lee Hardman at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"The election results provided a vote of confidence in favour of former Prime Minister Tsipras and the governing Syriza party after they had agreed the third bail out with international creditors."
In company news on Monday, London-listed drugmaker Shire Pharmaceuticals announced it had won European approval for its Intuniv treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Volkswagen plummets -
In reaction, Shire shares surged 2.21 percent to 4,850 pence in late morning deals, climbing to the top of the FTSE 100 risers' board.
On the downside, Royal & Sun Alliance saw its share price collapse by more than a fifth after Zurich Insurance scrapped its takeover bid for the British insurer.
RSA shares tanked 20.41 percent to 405.50 pence after Zurich pulled the plug on its £5.6-billion ($8.8-billion, 7.7-billion-euro) offer.
Back in Frankfurt, Volkswagen shares plummeted more than 20 percent on Monday after it emerged that nearly half a million of its diesel cars in the United States had been fitted with software that falsified emissions data.
By late morning on the Frankfurt stock exchange, VW shares had fallen by 21.8 percent to 127 euros, dragging down the entire market.
The scandal, which came to light on Friday, could lead to financial fines of up to $18 billion (15.9 billion euros) for the carmaker as well as threatening the brand's image in the United States and the rest of the world.
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