DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 2,902.42 (–31.91) Settlement date: January 18th:THE IRISH market held up reasonably well for much of yesterday's session thanks to a surprise gain by CRH, but sold off a touch into the close.
Markets across Europe got off to a decent start yesterday morning on the back of solid sovereign bond auctions in Spain and Italy. These followed a relatively successful sale of Portuguese debt on Wednesday.
Banking stocks were the main beneficiaries of the upward momentum, but this did not translate across to Irish financials which were all pretty much flat on the day.
Once the US market opened in the afternoon, European markets in general were hit but the Irish market held up well. This was mainly due to CRH, which rose by almost 1 per cent, or 14.5 cent, to €14.79. This positive performance surprised brokers as news from the US indicates there is considerable uncertainty surrounding its budget for the year ahead, and this was expected to weigh on the building materials giant.
Insulation group Kingspan’s great run came to an end, and it closed down 4.5 per cent, or 35 cents, at €7.35.
According to a Dublin trader, pharmaceuticals company Elan has found itself on the “least preferred” list of a US broker. The stock tumbled almost 5.5 per cent, or 29 cents, to €5.04.
DCC, which has performed very strongly on the back of the cold winter weather, found itself more than 3 per cent down, or 75 cents, at €23.10. One broker said that buyers had just “pulled back their horns” on the stock.
The gains enjoyed by CC earlier in the week were tempered by a weak day yesterday. It slipped 1.3 cent to just under €3.54. Brokers attributed this to a little bit of profit-taking in advance of the publication of its interim management statement today. – (Additional reporting – Reuters)
