THE Irish stock market gained nearly 1 per cent yesterday as Dublin shrugged off a weak share performance in much of the rest of Europe, a falling euro and renewed market fears about a possible euro zone recession.
Stocks in Europe headed lower, led by a 1 per cent decline on the Frankfurt bourse after German gross domestic product was revealed to have contracted 0.4 percent in fourth quarter 1998. The data confirmed economists' estimates that Europe's largest economy contracted at the end of last year as the Asian and Russian financial crises began to dampen export growth.
But Dublin forged ahead, helped by a good performance from financial shares and selected second-line stocks. Golden Vale, boosted by strong results earlier in the week, gained eight cents to €1.20 (95p). The food group reported an increase of more than 32 per cent in pre-tax profits last year to £21.3 million (€27 million).
Clondalkin also benefited from reporting strong numbers during the week, gaining 15 cents to €5.75 (£4.53) while IWP, which has suffered of late, recovered some ground to close at €2.00 (£1.58), a gain of 25 cents on the day.
Among the leading stocks, AIB ended higher despite dipping to an intra-day low of €14.90 (£11.73) after Lehman Brothers cuts its rating to neutral from outperform despite the 42 per cent rise in 1998 pre-tax profits announced on Wednesday. AIB shares ended 37 cents higher at €15.52 (£12.22). Bank of Ireland gained six cents to €19.28 (£15.18).
Meanwhile, Irish Life was unchanged at €9.00 (£7.09) and Irish Permanent was also steady at €14.50 (£11.42) after shareholders votes overwhelmingly to merge the two groups.
