The AIB rally continued yesterday, with the bank moving up 14 cents to #12.44 (£9.80) on the back of the Lehman recommendation and as buyers moved in on the financials in anticipation of a modest rise in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. AIB's turnaround represents a 6.3 per cent increase in its price over the past two days.

Bank of Ireland, meanwhile, performed more modestly, closing a cent down at #8.32 (£6.55), as did Anglo Irish, also closing a cent down, to #2.34 (£1.84). But Irish Life & Permanent was up 10 cents at #9.80 (£7.72).

The financial index was up by 0.6 per cent although, overall, the ISEQ was back by 0.1 per cent due to a poor performance among industrial stocks.

There was some interest, however, in stocks such as CRH, which is announcing results next Tuesday. It made an eight-cent gain to #19.58 (£15.42) and moved up 4.3 per cent to $21.375 (#20.33) on the Nasdaq in mid-day trade.

With interims also being announced next week, Independent was up 10 cents at #4.50 (£3.54), but Kingspan was down seven cents to #2.45 (£1.93). Ryanair was down 10 cents to #8.70 (£6.85) despite a `buy, medium risk' recommendation from Salomon Smith Barney, which has initiated coverage of the airline company. It set a 12-month target price of £8.27 (#10.50). "Ryanair is the largest and most profitable low-fares airline in Europe, with margins even greater than those of South-West Airlines itself," it stated. On the Nasdaq, Ryanair was down 0.8 per cent to $46.25 (#43.99) in mid-day trade.