Bank shares lift Iseq

AIB's share price remained buoyant today following confirmation that the bank is to sell its overseas assets.

AIB's share price remained buoyant today following confirmation that the bank is to sell its overseas assets.

Shares in Ireland's biggest bank were trading up 13 per cent to €1.41 on the Dublin market at 1.30pm after gaining 20 per cent yesterday.

Other banking shares also lifted with Bank of Ireland which was up 10 per cent to €1.21 and Irish Life & Permanent which gained 5 per cent to €3.19.

By 1.30 pm the Iseq was trading up 29.88 points to 2995.28.

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Iseq heavyweight CRH gained 1 per cent to €17.20 while other moves today include Smurfit Kappa which was up 3 per cent to €6.33, Grafton, up 1.7 per cent to €2.90 and Kenmare which was down 36 per cent after it announced a fully underwritten equity issue to raise $270 million to fund the expansion of production at its Moma mine in Mozambique.

Kenmare today also reported a loss after tax of $30.4 million for fiscal 2009.

European shares were also higher in early trade today, following gains in Asia and the United States overnight.

At 09.20am, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 per cent at 1,040.83 points, on course for a rise of more than 3 per cent in the week, and for a sixth straight day of gains.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, France's CAC40 and Germany's DAX were up between 0.3 and 0.4 per cent.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist