DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 2,887.83 (+5.71) Settlement date: May 26thEUROPEAN BOURSES sold off heavily yesterday morning, but rallied once US markets opened.

Germany approved its share of the €750 billion euro zone bailout package yesterday but, although this outcome wasn’t a forgone conclusion, it came as no great surprise and failed to lift stock markets in the region.

Instead Europe took its lead later in the day from stronger US markets, and recovered into the close.

There was a dearth of stock-specific news on the Dublin market, and so the Iseq index traded very much in line with its European peers for much of the day.

Like the wider market, Bank of Ireland succumbed to an early sell-off before staging a recovery. Its ordinary stock closed up slightly at 77.4 cent.

Elsewhere, Ryanair came under a little bit of pressure, and the budget airline dropped 3.5 per cent to just below €3.09.

Former State carrier Aer Lingus was also out of favour, slipping about 2.4 per cent to rest just above 68 cent.

Drug manufacturer Elan was another loser, shedding almost 12 cent to €4.45. Oil and gas exploration company Providence Resources, which issued an update on its Gulf of Mexico operations yesterday, bounced almost 3 per cent. However, the stock is trading at such low levels that in absolute terms this gain was minimal, nudging it ahead just to 3.5 cent.

A number of construction-related stocks fared well. Index stalwart CRH added more than 1 per cent to close the week just below €17.80. Grafton Group, which had been weaker than the rest of the market in recent sessions, closed up strongly. The stock gained 8 per cent, bringing it to €3.08. One broker described the jump as an “oversold bounce”, as there was no specific newsflow prompting the move.