The Irish stock market began the week quietly, taking its cue from Wall Street which was closed to commemorate Martin Luther King and shrugging off signs of a recovery in Asia.
Investors went on a buying rampage in battered Asian stock markets, fuelled by optimism that the worst of the region's financial crisis may be over and hopes that Japan will unveil measures to boost its economy.
Almost all the regional stock markets closed sharply higher, with most regional currencies showing some follow-on strength. Expectations of further steps to stimulate Japan's economy, which could also head off a slide into global deflation, lifted Tokyo shares more than 2 per cent at one point. The Nikkei Index ended 1.34 per cent higher at 16,262.04.
The strength spilled over to Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng closed 5.62 per cent higher at 9,400, assisted by a government decision to withdraw the sale of a former naval site to relieve pressure on the property market.
In Dublin, shares had a quiet day, closing just 0.01 per cent higher as most of the leading stocks, including the two main banks, suffered some profit-taking.
"The banks were better offered than bid for the first time in the new year but there wasn't a huge amount of volume," one trader said.
AIB lost 10p to 725p, Bank of Ireland shed 5p to 1125p, while Irish Life edged down 1p to 449p. Irish Permanent, which is sometimes constrained by illiquidity when the sector is moving upward, resisted yesterday's general downward trend and gained 15p to 815p.
The leading industrial stocks were broadly steady, with CRH unchanged at 880p and Smurfit up 5p at 200p.
Dealers said there was continued good interest in second-line stocks, particularly those companies which reported recently, such as Abbey which jumped 7p to 305p.
Clondalkin, another illiquid stock, surged 35p to 635p, while Kingspan gained 20p to 300p.
