European equities markets were higher Wednesday after Greeces parliament passed a package of austerity measures required by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to continue a bailout for Greece so that it can avoid default.

The FTSE 100 added 1.54 percent to 5,855.95 in London, while the FTSE 250 was up 1.66 percent to 11,799.2, where banks, the chemicals sector, insurers and telecoms all saw gains in their sectors with no declines and the mining and energy sectors, the media sector and utilities each saw just one decliner on the session.

Interdealer money broker ICAP (LSE: IAP) was the biggest gainer on the 100, adding 9.69 percent on speculation that it is a takeover target, while engineering group Charter International (LSE: CHTR) was up 27.97 percent after investment group Melrose (LSE: MRO), which specializes in acquiring underperforming businesses, said it has made a preliminary inquiry toward a takeover bid for Charter.

Bids rumors and other news were also in focus in the mining sector, where there was a possibility that BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) could offer for iron-ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO), which was up 2.62 percent while BLT added 2.65 percent while Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) added 3.85 percent after it listed in Hong Kong, Chilean copper miner Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) was 4.76 percent higher after it said it expects huge demand in China and other emerging markets, while Talvivaara Mining Company (LSE: TALV) was the biggest gainer in the sector as it gained 6.12 percent.

ITV (LSE: ITV) added 6.59 percent on reports that Luxembourg-based RTL (LuxSE: RTL) could bid on the broadcaster, but neither ITV nor RTL would comment on the speculation.

Marks Spencer (LSE: MKS) was the worst performer in the 100, dropping 1.98 percent on media reports that it started its summer sales two weeks early, while food manufacturer Premier Foods (LSE: PFD) was down 4.3 percent for the worst performance on the 250.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.68 percent to 1,099.02 while the Dax added 1.73 percent to 7,294.14 and saw only two declines, the CAC-40 was 1.88 percent higher to 3,924.23 with just 1 decliners and the IBEX gained 2.08 percent to 10,143.6 and saw no declines on the session.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher on continuing hopes that Greece will be able to avoid default, but Hong Kongs Hang Seng dropped just 0.6 point to 22,061.2 and the Shanghai Composite was down 1.11 percent to 2,728.48.

The Nikkei 225 added 1.54 percent to 7,797.26 in Tokyo, while the Topix index was up 1.66 percent to 844.11 and the Mothers market gained 1.83 percent to 455.87 as carmakers, banks and traders were all higher and utilities gained as electricity generators held shareholder votes, with each group deciding not to stop nuclear power generation, with Tokyo Electric Power (TYO: 9501) adding 2.9 percent while Chubu Electric Power (TYO: 9502) up 4 percent while Kyushu Electric Power (TYO: 9508) gained 5 percent.

Exporters who do business with Europe saw gains, with camera and copier maker Canon (TYO: 7751) up 2.1 percent and video game maker Nintendo (TYO: 7974) added 1.5 percent, while oil producers saw gains on higher oil prices, with Inpex (TYO: 1605) up 2.1 percent.

The Straits Times Index was up 0.95 percent to 3,079.74 in Singapore while Indias Sensex added 1.09 percent to 18,693.9, the Taiex was 1.11 percent higher to 8,573.38 in Taiwan, Australias markets advanced as the SP/ASX200 added 1.23 percent to 4,529.5 and the Sydney Ordinaries gained 125 percent to 4,579.8, while South Koreas Kospi was up 1.53 percent to 2,094.42.

New York equities markets were higher in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.69 percent to 12,272.7 while the SP 500 had added 0.91 percent to 1,308.49 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.55 percent higher to 2,744.1.

Crude oil prices were higher, with West Texas Intermediate crude up by $2.29 per barrel at around 1 p.m. New York time and Brent crude was up $3.16 per barrel in London after the US Energy Information Administration said crude oil stockpiles in the US were down by 4.4 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.7 million barrel decline that had been expected, and after Tropical Storm Arline was interfering with some production in Mexico.

Metals prices were also higher, with copper up 12 cents a pound in New York trade, while gold and silver were up.

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