Is that a sigh of relief we hear? Stocks shot higher across the globe after European leaders hammered out a deal aimed at preventing Greece from going bankrupt and safeguarding the global banking sector.
Britain's FTSE 100 rose 2.4 per cent, France's CAC 40 gained 4.4 per cent, and Germany's DAX surged 4.1 per cent. Japan's Nikkei rose 2 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng leapt 3.2 per cent.
Wall Street appeared ready to join the party. Dow futures gained 207 points, or 1.8 per cent, rising to 12,009 about two and a half hours before trading began. S&P 500 futures rose 25.5 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 1,262.90.
Under the deal, the private sector agreed to accept a 50 per cent cut on bond investments to reduce Greece's debt burden by 100-billion euros ($138.2-billion U.S.), cutting its debts to 120 per cent of GDP by 2020, from 160 per cent at present. Euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund will also provide an additional $140-billion in rescue loans as a second bailout package for Greece.
In addition, the 440-billion-euro European Financial Stability Facility will be used to insure bonds of riskier countries, such as Italy and Spain, giving it firepower equivalent to around 1-trillion euros.
As for steps on bank recapitalization, the European Banking Authority will require around 70 banks to meet a higher 9 per cent threshold of the "highest quality capital", after revaluing sovereign debt at market rates.
The euro rose 0.8 per cent to $1.4011, its highest level in seven weeks.
Benchmark crude for December delivery rose $1.98 to $92.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.7 per cent to $7,813.25 a tonne
Gold fell for the first time in a week, down $3.30 to $1,720.20 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar rose to $1.0038 (U.S.).