LONDON: Eurozone stock markets pushed higher on Monday after Greek lawmakers adopted further austerity measures, while falling commodity prices tripped up London.
Investors greeted Greece's parliament voting for a controversial package of pension cuts and tax hikes, essential conditions for the country to get its next dose of bailout loans and avoid a new crisis.
"European stocks were mostly firmer on Monday, though a reversal in commodity prices erased much of the early gains," said market analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets UK.
While Frankfurt ended the day with a gain of 1.1 percent, also thanks to a strong rebound in German factory orders, and Paris added 0.5 percent, London's commodity-heavy FTSE-100 index slipped 0.2 percent.
"Free-falling iron ore and copper prices are a serious headwind to FTSE 100 mining stocks," said Lawler.
Miner Anglo American tumbled 13.8 percent, Glencore slumped 9.0 percent, Rio Tinto shed 7.9 percent and BHP Billiton fell 6.1 percent as iron ore prices slumped around 9 percent and copper shed 2 percent.
Meanwhile, Frankfurt rose sharply after data showed German industrial orders, a key measure of demand, rebounded 1.9 percent in March on the back of stronger than expected foreign demand.
ING's Carsten Brzeski noted that "even if monthly new orders data is too volatile to be a really reliable indicator of what is going on in the industry, today's numbers give some hope that the stagnation since last summer is gradually fading away".
Meanwhile hopes rose for Greece to receive much-needed debt relief after Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said he wants a deal agreed on May 24.
Athens' main stocks index closed up 0.74 percent.
"There is quite some relief where Greece is concerned," said trader Markus Huber at City of London Markets.
Wall Street opened moderately higher on Monday with the Dow adding 0.2 percent.
Across in Asia, Shanghai stocks tumbled almost three percent Monday on another disappointing Chinese trade report, but Tokyo was boosted by a weaker yen after Friday's jobs data reinforced expectations of more US interest rate hikes this year.
Beijing at the weekend released figures showing exports fell almost two percent last month while imports plunged nearly 11 percent, stoking fresh fears about the state of the world's number two economy.
China's official mouthpiece newspaper meanwhile said Monday that the country must bring an end to credit-driven growth to avoid a financial crisis.
The People's Daily article, which comes as leaders struggle to cap rising bad loans and other risks, could be a signal that Beijing is to rein in monetary stimulus efforts, analysts said.
Elsewhere, initially oil prices jumped after Canadian producers cut back output as huge wildfires spread in Alberta, but had turned back down in afternoon trading.
Crude market dealers were keeping watch also on Saudi Arabia, which at the weekend sacked its long-serving oil minister in a major government overhaul.
- Key figures around 1540 GMT -
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London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,114.81 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.1 percent at 9,980.49 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 4,322.81 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.5 percent at 2,952.17
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 17,680.85
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.08 percent at 2,055.59
New York - Nasdaq: UP: 0.3 at 4,749.42
Tokyo: Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 16,216.03 (close)
Shanghai: DOWN 2.8 percent at 2,832.11 (close)
Hong Kong: UP 0.2 percent at 20,156.81 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1405 from $1.1403 Friday
Dollar/yen: UP at 108.28 yen from 107.14 yen
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