DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 2,639.86 (-1.62) Settlement date: January 16th

ON WHAT was a fairly flat day for the Irish market as a whole, the banking sector continued to claw back some ground.

Allied Irish Bank was the star performer of the financial sector, gaining 4.63 per cent, or 10 cent, to finish the day at €2.26.

Anglo Irish Bank traded up to €0.35 cent at one point during the day, but finally closed at €0.33, which represented a gain of 4.43 per cent, or just over 1 cent.

Irish Life Permanent was the black sheep of the financials.

After a strong performance on Monday, the lender fell out of favour with investors yesterday as news emerged that the lender plans to raise at least €1 billion in the coming weeks through a bond sale, and gave up some ground, falling by 11 cent to €2.57.

CRH weakened slightly yesterday as well. This was believed to have been due to the fact that the building materials giant’s peer group, which includes companies such as Vulcan, was quite weak overnight. At one point, CRH traded down as far as €18.29, but recovered somewhat during the afternoon and finished at €18.65, a drop of 24 cent.

Ryanair continued to feel the benefit of its recent announcement that it has hedged half of its fuel requirement for 2009.

Despite a volatile morning, it gained 4.66 per cent, or 15 cent, by the time the market closed, bringing its share price to €3.37.

Despite announcing the largest oil discovery in Uganda to date, Tullow Oil slipped 31 cent to €7.71.

In the food sector, Glanbia issued a trading statement yesterday. Although its earning projections for 2009 were in line with analysts’ expectations, the market responded negatively and its share price fell by 5.61 per cent, or 16 cent, to €2.69.

Elsewhere, Independent News Media’s share price fell 10.23 per cent, or 4.5 cent, to €0.39.