European stock markets extended strong gains yesterday following Greece’s approval of austerity measures needed to unlock critical bailout funding and stave off a debt default

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top shares jumped 1.53 per cent to 5,945.71 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX gained 1.13 per cent to 7,376.24 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 1.48 per cent to 3,982.21 points.

Off the FTSE 100, the London Stock Exchange saw its share price jump 10.98 per cent to 1,061 pence, one day after The LSE and Toronto’s bourse scrapped plans to merge after failing to win support from two-thirds of their shareholders.

In response, LBG rocketed to the top of the FTSE 100 index, gaining 9.73 per cent to 49 pence as investors welcomed news of the measures.

Brussels ended the day up 0.97 per cent, Amsterdam rose 1.3 per cent, Milan climbed 1.62 per cent, Madrid jumped 2.13 per cent and Lisbon soared 3.03 per cent.

London was also supported by news that Lloyds bank will axe 15,000 more jobs and that the London Stock Exchange is once more a likely takeover target.

Lloyds, which is 41-percent state-owned after a massive bailout, said it will axe 15,000 jobs in a drastic cost-cutting plan that will halve its international base and save £1.5 billion (€1.66 billion, $2.4 billion) per year by 2014.

“Shares in the London Stock Exchange rallied as investors speculated that the firm may become bid prey to Nasdaq OMX, having seen its multi-billion bid for Canada’s TMX fall by the wayside,” said analyst Giles Watts at City Index.