Greek debt crisis: Markets surge as Greece deal might be close

European markets have responded positively after Eurozone finance ministers hinted a deal with Greece was within reach because of a "realistic" proposal put forward by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on 22 June.

The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) was up 2.67% (at the time of writing, at 10.05am on 23 June) and the Eurozone overall index, the Euro Stoxx 50, was up 0.83%.

Analysts at Accendo Markets said: "Still no Greek deal, though, but plenty of optimism that we are edging closer. This comes from experience, with years of similar happenings resulting in deals at the last minute.

"There is still work to do by both sides. Markets are long on optimism, but short on time – buckle-up."

The German Dax was up 1.11% and the FTSE 100 edged up a bit more carefully by 0.12%.

Alastair McCaig, commentator at online trading company IG, underlined the importance of equity investments. He told IBTimes UK: "If we take a step away from Greece and try desperately to ignore it for a moment, the quantitative easing process is still ticking away aggressively in the background and equity markets remain the primary home for cash. "

He also stated that, although Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem was exceptionally optimistic about a deal, other main players in the Eurozone sent out a different message and there was no significant sign a deal can be reached before 25 June.

"The markets rallied on the back of Greece as optimism increased rather than expectations and I think that is still the case," McCaig said.

"At least they are talking about pensions, but again, you are getting conflicted commentary from varying Greek politicians, which doesn't lead to a unified picture, and in the back of our brains what they agree in Brussels might be very different from what they can get through the Greek parliament."