Irish bond yields dipped slightly today, after earlier rising as high as 6.466 per cent.
By 2.06pm, the yield on the 10-year Government bond was 6.296, lower than Friday’s close of 6.309.
Yields on Irish Government bonds have risen in recent weeks as concerns about the level of sovereign debt and the cost of the bank bailout rattled markets, peaking above 6.7 per cent. However, the Government's announcement of the final figure of up to €50 billion last week has seen bond yields drift lower.
The spread between Irish bonds and the German bund was 404.2 basis points today.
Meanwhile, the Dublin market rose marginally this afternoon, led by rises in pharmaceutical firms United Drug and Merrion Pharmaceuticals, while food group Greencore also saw its shares increase.
United Drug rose 2.1 per cent to €2.42, with Merrion increasing its price by 2.9 per cent to €3.60.
Building group Kingspan rose 1.5 per cent to €5.84, while CRH was up just over 0.6 per cent to €11.98.
The gain came after numbers that showed US construction spending was estimated to have risen 0.4 per cent in August, better than the expectation of a 0.4 per cent decline. Stockbroker Davy said any evidence the decline in construction spending may be coming to an end is positive for businesses exposed to the US construction sector, including CRH, Kingspan and Wolseley.
Financials were still suffering. Troubled AIB, in which the Government is set to acquire a majority stake in, saw its shares fall 2.1 per cent to 46.4 cent. Irish Life and Permanent, which is not involved in Nama, fell 0.6 per cent to €1.41.
However, Bank of Ireland shares increased 1.3 per cent to 64.5 cent
The overall index was up seven points to 2673 shortly before 2pm.
US stock index futures were lower today after a Swiss plan to tighten banking rules raised fears of smaller bank profits ahead of a new round of US data.
Switzerland will seek rules to require global banks UBS AG and Credit Suisse to hold more top-quality capital. The potential regulations, stricter than recently proposed international standards, could crimp the banks' competitiveness in investment banking.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.3 per cent, though US-listed shares of Credit Suisse and UBS were little changed in premarket trading.
Concerns about Europe's banking system have been a headwind for US stocks in recent months even as some improving domestic data eased concerns over a possible double-dip recession.
The euro declined from a six-month high against the dollar as concern Europe's major banks are undercapitalised reduced demand for the region's assets. The Swiss franc appreciated versus the euro as stocks fell, discouraging demand for riskier assets.
Additional reporting: Bloomberg