Greek stocks rallied more than 6% and government bond yields fell sharply today after the country's ruling leftist Syriza party suffered a massive defeat in the European elections.

This forced Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to call a snap election.

Tsipras was left struggling for his political survival after his party lost its first major vote in years to the opposition conservative New Democracy party, which is considered more business-friendly and pro-European than Syriza.

Greece's main stock index was up more than 6% and set for its biggest one-day gain in more than three years, far outperforming the broader market.

Greek government bond yields dropped sharply, with the 10-year yield briefly hitting 3% for the first time.

The move eased as the session wore on, but it was still down 24 basis points at 3.16% and set for its biggest daily drop since December 2017.