The Irish market was subdued yesterday, with sporting events - such as racing enthusiasts heading to Cheltenham, and rugby fans spending the weekend in Edinburgh - contributing to a lacklustre day's trading.
Nevertheless, Allied Irish Bank continued to attract buyers on the back of solid results last week and its ongoing road show. Almost 2.98 million shares in the the bank traded hands yesterday. However, its share price only managed to inch upwards by .68 per cent, or 16 cent, to €23.56.
Irish Life and Permanent hit €21.90 at one point during the day, but had slipped back to €21.55 by close of business. This still represented an increase of 25 cent, or 1.17 per cent. UK buyers were thought to have provided much of the impetus for this movement.
United Drug attracted buyers on the back of a private equity bid for pharmacy chain Alliance Boots.
Although the bid was rejected during the day, the introduction of an M&A dynamic to the sector was enough to push United Drug's share price up by 12 cent, or 3.16 per cent to €3.92.
Similarly, speculation of a possible merger between Carlsberg and Heineken had a spin-off effect on C&C, according to one trader, with considerable volume pushing the drinks company's share price up to €10.15 at one point, although it settled back to an even €10.00, up 8 cent on the previous day. IAWS produced solid first half results yesterday, but although its share price had benefited in the lead-up to the results, some investors appeared to "cut and run", one trader remarked, once the results came out.
The share price slid by 4.14 per cent, or 76 cent, down to €17.62. However this was thought to be due to short-term trading rather than any meaningful trend.
