DUBLIN REPORT:Heavy media coverage of Ireland's debt woes, and whether or not the State is "being rescued", drove volatile movements on the Irish stock market today, a Dublin broker said.
Although Irish bond spreads tightened pretty consistently as the day went on, equities fluctuated as investors grappled with conflicting reports relating to Ireland’s sovereign debt problems.
“Fridays are always a good day for rumours, and there were plenty today,” the broker said.
Banking stocks finally broke their losing streak and came off recent lows. AIB led the upward surge, gaining more than 16 per cent, or 5.4 cent, to 38.5 cent. Bank of Ireland managed to add more than 6 per cent, or 2.4 cent, to just under 41 cent, despite saying today that it expects its operating profit to be down 40 per cent this year.
Irish Life & Permanent also regained some ground, rising almost 6 per cent to 87 cent.
Outside of the financial sector, cement manufacturer CRH dipped below the €13.00 mark at one point but recovered somewhat to close at €13.05. However it was still down almost 2 per cent, or 25 cent on the day.
Ryanair fared a little better, having been “a bit unloved” since it released results last week, one analyst said. The low fares airline started to pick up support around the €3.80 mark, and finished the day at almost €3.86.
After an eventful day, the Iseq index pretty much flat, which was a decent performance when compared to many of its European peers.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index ended down 0.3 per cent, Germany's DAX was up 0.1 per cent and France's CAC 40 was down 0.9 per cent.
Additional reporting - Reuters
