There might have been little stimulus coming from abroad, but the Irish put in another sound performance, with solid gains by the banks and CRH countering a modest fall by index heavyweight Elan. Outside the leaders, highlights were heavy trading in Barlo and big buying of Irish Continental shares by chief executive Mr Eamon Rothwell.
Banks were given an early boost by a research note from Commerzbank which upgraded AIB to a "buy" and Bank of Ireland to "accumulate". Bank of Ireland continued to be the heaviest traded financial stock, jumping 45 cents to €9 in turnover of 3.7 million shares. AIB gained 40 cents to €10.80 with 1.5 million shares trading.
CRH's current recovery is as dramatic as its 20 per cent fall in recent weeks and the share soared €1.12 to close on €18.30.
Elan was trading about half a dollar lower on the NYSE on $47.80, while Kerry's latest batch of bolt-on acquisitions, worth €94 million, helped lift its shares 65 cents to €14.40.
The biggest trading of all was in Barlo, where more than six million shares traded as the stock first slumped to a low of €0.18 before recovering to close a cent lower on €0.24. The profits warning from Barlo last week and the subsequent cuts in earnings forecasts have hit Barlo particularly badly, and there is little support for the shares.
Irish Continental fell 19 cents to €4.90 - the level at which Mr Rothwell came in and bought 584,000 shares to more than double his stake to 4 per cent.
Ryanair shares remain volatile and they fell 41 cents to €9.25 yesterday in hefty trading as some investors took fright at the latest international developments.
