Europe's main stock markets advanced at the start of trading on Thursday after Greek MPs voted in favour of an austerity-laden bailout package.

In opening trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.28 percent to 6,772.75 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.73 percent to 11,624.48 and the CAC 40 in Paris won 0.49 percent to open at 5,071.90 points compared with Wednesday's close.

Anti-austerity protesters hurled petrol bombs at police in front of Greece's parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers began debating deeply unpopular reforms needed to unlock a new eurozone bailout.

Riot police responded with tear gas against dozens of hooded protesters who set ablaze parts of Syntagma square in central Athens as they targeted the officers, AFP journalists saw.

French MPs overwhelmingly backed the new Greek bailout agreement on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls saying it was the only route out of the crisis. 

The French lower house National Assembly backed the agreement by 412 votes to 69, shortly followed by the upper house Senate, which supported the bill by 260 votes to 23.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Wednesday he will submit the eurozone deal on Greece's debts to parliament to ensure support for his country's multi-billion-euro contribution.

"Although this procedure is not obligatory in our country, it is my intention to bring the deal before parliament to be debated, because it is a big sum that Spanish taxpayers are being asked to guarantee," Rajoy told the lower house.

Greece on Wednesday geared up for a parliamentary vote on draconian reforms demanded by eurozone creditors in exchange for a huge new bailout, just hours after a bombshell report from the International Monetary Fund criticized the deal.

The outcome of the crucial vote was far from clear after the IMF issued a stark warning that Greece would need far more debt relief to stop it crashing out of the common currency than European governments have so far been willing to contemplate.

Oil prices rose in Asia Wednesday on easing concerns about the impact of the expected flood of Iranian supplies on the global market following the country's historic nuclear deal.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose nine cents to $53.13 and Brent crude for August climbed 12 cents to $58.63 a barrel in afternoon trade.

India's defense ministry has cleared the purchase of military equipment worth $4.74 billion, including four long-range patrol aircraft from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing, an official said Wednesday.

The Defense Acquisition Council, which approves big-ticket purchases, also approved an order for 428 air defense artillery guns during a meeting late Tuesday, the official said.

Germany's Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel plans to visit Iran soon, his ministry said Tuesday, hours after world powers and Tehran reached a historic nuclear deal.

"There is great interest on the part of German industry in normalizing and strengthening economic relations with Iran, all the more so after today's agreement in the nuclear talks," his ministry told AFP in a statement.

Oil prices fell Tuesday as Iran's deal with world powers on curbing the Islamic republic's suspected ambitions for a nuclear bomb is set to see crude added to an already oversupplied market.

Analysts said the landmark agreement that will see sanctions lifted on Iran's oil exports, would put a lid on any rise in crude futures this year and in the future.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday battled to hold his ruling Syriza party together as opposition mounted to a shocking new bailout deal that requires Athens to push through draconian reforms within two days.

With around 30 hardline Syriza lawmakers threatening to oppose the latest tough reforms demanded by Greece's international creditors, Tsipras faced the unenviable task of turning to pro-austerity opposition parties to push the deal through parliament by Wednesday.