TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was higher Monday, reflecting relief that the Greek parliament passed a package of harsh austerity measures that will hopefully be a step towards saving the country from bankruptcy.

The S&P/TSX composite index was ahead 55.8 points to 12,445.21 while the TSX Venture Exchange added 5.64 points to 1,659.19.

The Canadian dollar headed higher as Sunday's vote encouraged investors to take on added risk, rising 0.45 of a cent to 100.17 cents US.

U.S. markets were also higher as the Dow Jones industrial average gained 57.9 points to 12,859.13.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 22.72 points to 2,926.6 and the S&P 500 index was up 7.55 points to 1,350.19.

Greece's fellow eurozone members had demanded drastic cuts in civil service jobs, minimum wages and welfare to secure the €130 billion bailout package.

Without the bailout, and a related bond swap deal with private creditors, Greece will be pushed into a disorderly default on bond repayments next month. That would see cause the country’s financial sector to collapse, fuelling further social unrest and destabilizing the wider European and global markets.

Between now and the looming Greek bond repayment on March 20, there is also the risk that some private creditors may resist the deal to swap their bonds for new ones with a lower value.

However, on Monday a spokeswoman for Germany’s finance ministry said the final approval of a new bailout won't be given until early March. That means the eurozone will have to split the final bailout approval from a related debt relief deal that will take several weeks to implement and which has to be finalized ahead of the March 20 bond repayment.

Marianne Kothe said that the other euro countries will first want to see how many of Greece’s private creditors participate in the bond swap which designed to cut Greece’s debt by €100 billion.

Relief over the Greek austerity vote extended to commodity markets where oil and metals advanced, also supported by the weaker U.S. dollar.

A weaker greenback usually helps support commodity prices, which are denominated in dollars, as it makes oil and metals less expensive for holders of other currencies.