Before the Bell: Global markets up on Greece, await Fed

Global markets are rallying Tuesday as investors take positive cues from U.S. equities and comfort in the Eurozone's agreement to a second Greek bailout.

The Eurogroup -- made up of Eurozone finance ministers, president of the European Central Bank and European Commission chiefs -- officially backed Greece's second bailout of €130 billion (US$172 billion). Spain remains a concern and finance ministers agreed to allow it a bigger 2012 public deficit, upping the amount to 5.3 per cent of GDP from 4.4 per cent.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 Index was up 0.7 per cent at 266.81. The Stoxx Europe 600 banks Index was 1.5 per cent higher. London's FTSE 100 was 0.5 per cent higher at 5922.05, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.8 per cent at 6954.48 and Paris's CAC-40 was up 0.7 per cent at 3514.55. The euro currency is presently fetching US$1.3135.

Asian bourses all climbed. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.2 per cent, South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.1 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up 1 per cent, Taiwan's Taiex added 1.3 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.9 per cent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average also rose 0.1 per cent.

On Wall Street, U.S. futures are pointing to a higher open. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66 points to 12,963. S&P 500 Index futures gained 8.1 points to 1,374.90, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 14.5 points to 2,661.50. Today, investors will be eyeing a survey from the German Center for European Economic Research and a rate announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve that is expected to offer few fireworks.

Canada's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 75.61 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 12,428.01 at close on Monday due to falling oil and gold prices. The junior Venture Exchange slipped 13.71 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 1,636.10. The Canadian dollar is presently trading at US$1.0074.