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According to Reuters, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was 0.3 per cent higher at 08:29 BST, putting it on 1,073.46 points.
There were gains of between 0.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent for Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Lloyds Banking Group, as traders were boosted by the positive news about Greece.
However, a trading update from Barclays caused the bank to drop 4.5 per cent as the markets opened.
Barclays said in the statement that profit before tax for the three months to the end of March was up 47 per cent year on year, taking it to £1.82 billion.
The news agency reports performance by Barclays Capital - its investment banking arm - failed to match that recorded by its competitors.
Posted by Clive Arneil
