Market Morning: Progress in Greece

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing higher Monday and European shares rose after Greek lawmakers over the weekend approved new austerity measures.

Asian stocks ended higher Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.6% higher at 8,999.18, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.5%.

On Friday, U.S. stocks posted their largest one-day decline of the 2012 on signs of a global economic slowdown and uncertainty in Greece.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 89.2 points, or 0.7%, to 12,801. The S&P 500 slid 9.3 points, or 0.7%, to 1,343, to snap a five-week rally, and the Nasdaq erased 23.4 points, or 0.8%, at 2,904.

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No major U.S. economic data is scheduled to be released Monday.

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Lawmakers in Greece approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the debt-laden nation from bankruptcy.

The vote paves the way for Greece's international creditors to release €130 billion ($172 billion) in new rescue loans to prevent the country from defaulting next month on its debt.

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Mitt Romney won Maine's Republican caucuses Saturday by a narrow margin over Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

Romney had 2,190 votes vs. 1,996 for Paul, who was the only other candidate to campaign aggressively in Maine, The Associated Press reported.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won 989 votes, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich got 349, the AP said.

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Apple(AAPL) escalated its legal battle against Samsung by asking a California court to issue an injunction blocking sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, according to reports.

In the suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Apple accuses Samsung of violating four Apple patents with its new phone, according to a Dow Jones report published over the weekend.

Apple argues that the new Samsung phone is the strongest competitor yet to its iPhone and poses a robust threat to its market share, Dow Jones said.

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Vodafone(VOD), the world's largest mobile phone company, confirmed Monday it is considering making an offer for Britain's Cable & Wireless Worldwide.