Leading European stock exchanges yesterday shook off an early bout of nerves, brought on by scepticism on Greek bailout prospects, and edged higher on upbeat US economic data.
But the euro, which has been under heavy pressure because of the Greek debt debacle, fell to $1.3196 from $1.3300 late on Friday in New York.
On the bond market, the rate demanded for Greek 10-year paper eased sharply to 8.498 per cent from 8.938 per cent late on Friday, signalling overall investor satisfaction with a rescue package approved by the eurozone on Sunday.
In Paris the CAC 40 stock index gained 0.30 per cent to finish at 3,828.46 points while in Frankfurt the DAX added 0.51 per cent to finish at 6,166.92.
The London stock market was closed for a public holiday.
Elsewhere there were gains of 0.45 per cent in Brussels, 0.30 per cent in Amsterdam, 0.31 per cent in Milan and 0.02 per cent in Lisbon.
The Swiss Market Index fell 0.14 per cent and the Madrid exchange 0.66 per cent.
Market sentiment was initially dominated by investor fears that a €110-billion rescue package, backed by eurozone finance ministers and the IMF on Sunday, might not be sufficient to ward off a Greek default.
But European spirits picked up later in the day on news that the Commerce Department reported another rise in US consumer spending.
Consumer spending rose for the sixth consecutive month in March, up 0.6 per cent in line with expectations.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.78 per cent at mid-day at 11,094.01 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq had risen 0.83 per cent to 2,481.54.
"Pressure on the markets eased," said analyst Xavier de Villepion of Global Equities.
"But uncertainties remain because Europe waited so long to put this plan in place that investors will find it hard to regain their confidence."
Hanging over stock markets in recent days has been the unsettling possibility that other eurozone nations saddled with high public deficits, notably Portugal and Spain, could - like Greece - be vulnerable to attacks from speculators.
"There is little doubt that if eurozone policymakers had acted swiftly to stabilise Greece, contagion would not have reached the nerve-wracking intensity of the last few days," said Marco Annunziata of UniCredit Group.
Battered by debt downgrades, Greek borrowing costs have soared, with the yield on 10-year sovereign bonds at one point last week surging to more than 11 per cent.
IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn yesterday maintained that the eurozone-IMF rescue package for Greece would allow Athens to avoid borrowing on the markets for 18 months.
"I convinced the Europeans that this massive effort was needed so that Greece would not have to turn to the markets for 18 months," he said.
Loans, spread over a three-year period at around five per cent, were approved by ministers after the Greek government agreed to implement deep spending cuts and tax hikes, measures that have triggered intense public outrage in Greece.
Commerzbank analysts noted that the cuts would amount to about 13 per cent of gross domestic product, two-thirds of which are to come this year.
"Such a mammoth achievement has not been managed by any country yet."
Earlier in Asia Hong Kong ended the trading day 1.41 per cent lower and Sydney shed 0.46 per cent. Tokyo was closed for a holiday.