Greece will receive EUR12 billion from the European Union and International Monetary Fund by July 15 after ministers approved the fifth tranche of aid from last year's EUR110 billion rescue package. The IMF is expected to clear its part of the next instalment some time this week.
However, ministers didn't make any decisions on a new bailout to supplement the original package. They said they expected those plans to be agreed by September.
Commenting on the outcome of this weekend's euro-zone ministers' teleconference call, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets said: "This will not satisfy the market as we will have to wait a good two months for an agreement thus increasing market volatility and keeping participants' attention fixated on Greece."
Still, "this development will give further significant breathing space to other countries such as Italy and Spain to restore their budget balance and hence their competitiveness through harsh economic reforms," it added.
At 0740 GMT, Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat at 274.83. London's FTSE 100 was also flat, at 5987.03, Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.1% to 7424.31 and Paris's CAC-40 was 0.2% lower at 4001.32.
With Greece still firmly in focus, bank stock were under pressure, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index for the sector down 1.1% at 188.63.
Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's cautioned that a plan to rollover Greek debt may put the country in 'selective default.' In a comment released early Monday, S&P said its June 13 downgrade of Greece's long-term rating in part "reflected our view that the rising risk that an enhanced official financing package addressing the Greek government's 2011-2014 financing needs could require private sector debt restructuring in a form that we would view as an effective default of its debt obligations under our ratings criteria."
With little on the economic calendar to provide any direction, traders expect the session to be fairly quiet and volume to be relatively thin, with U.S. markets closed for Independence Day.
U.K. CIPS construction PMI is due at 0830 GMT, while euro-zone PPI is at 0900 GMT. Looking ahead to the rest of the week, rate announcements from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will be in focus on Thursday.
In Asia, stock markets were higher Monday after solid gains on Wall Street Friday, with exporters underpinning the Japanese market, while benchmark indexes in Seoul and Sydney tapped multiweek highs.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8% at 4629.6, South Korea's Kospi Composite added 0.9% to 2145.03 and New Zealand's NZX-50 tacked on 0.4%.
In the European foreign exchanges, the euro eased back against the dollar, as new worries about Greece began to surface. By 0740 GMT, the single currency was trading at $1.4525, from $1.4531 late Friday in New York, while the dollar was at Y80.59 from Y80.80.
Among commodities, spot gold was at $1494.60 per troy ounce, up $11.90 from New York, while August Nymex crude oil futures were up 26 cents at $95.20 per barrel.
In the bond markets, the September bund futures contract was up 0.28 at 125.70. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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