The Iseq index rose 0.35 per cent this morning with early gains led by CRH, Elan, and Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P).
At 9am, Bank of Ireland was up 2.3 per cent, and IL&P rose 0.682, but AIB was down just over 3 per cent. Elan was up 2.38 per cent, and CRH stock increased by 0.52 per cent.
Aer Lingus also entered positive territory, at 3.279 per cent. The carrier this morning declined to comment on the results of staff ballots on a restructuring deal, saying it would wait until the results of ballots by ground and support staff and maintenance workers before discussing the future of the cost-saving plan.
It is believed Aer Lingus may defer the planned publication of its full-year financial results for 2009 because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of the controversial €97 million restructuring.
The airline planned to publish its annual results tomorrow morning, with analysts forecasting it will reveal an operating loss of about €85 million for 2009.
Elsewhere, European shares rose for a seventh consecutive session early today as concerns eased over the fiscal situation in Greece, with banks featuring among the biggest gainers, though drug makers came under pressure.
At 8.08am, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.1 per cent at 1,055.53 points.
Banks featured among the biggest movers on the index. Banco Santander, BBVA, UniCredit and Barclays gained 0.6 to 1.5 per cent.
"The market is a little more positive, buoyed by what happened in the United States on Friday with the non-farm payroll figures," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management.
"There is also a view that while Europe has not resolved its problems, the worst of what has happened to Greece has passed for the moment . . . but, that is not to say it can not come back." Central bank governor George Provopoulos said in a German newspaper interview released on Monday that Greece will not need foreign help to deal with its debt problems.
Drug makers were the major losers, with AstraZeneca down 0.6 per cent after it said its cancer drug Recentin failed in a head-to-head late stage trial with Roche's Avastin on colorectal cancer patients.