Dublin stocks rally on back of falling oil

The Dublin market rallied today, as the decrease in the price of crude oil boosted stocks.

The Iseq gained 127.17 points or 2.8 per cent, to rise to 4,606.37 in a day of light trading.

Both Irish airlines had a good day on the back of falling oil prices. Ryanair finished the day up 23 cents or 8.7 per cent to €2.87, while Aer Lingus saw its share price rise by 10 cents or 6.6 per cent to €1.63.

Construction stocks also rose following the lead of their UK counterparts, as the announcement by the UK government of a temporary stamp duty saw UK stocks such as Taylor Wimpey jump by as much as 8.5 per cent.

McInerney led the Irish charge, and CRH followed behind, increasing by €1.11 or 6.2 per cent to €18.98. Kingspan gained 25 cents or 3.1 per cent to advance to €8.30, while Grafton finished the day up 8 cents or 2.2 per cent to €3.80.

Talk of stake building in food group Greencore saw the stock add 15 cents or 7.3 per cent, rising to €2.20.

Among the financial stocks, Bank of Ireland was the best performer, up 25 cents or 4.6 per cent to €5.76. AIB closed up 26 cents or 3 per cent to €8.91, while Irish Life & Permanent advanced by 10 cents or 1.6 per cent to €6.40. Anglo Irish Bank fell back by 8 cents or 1.4 per cent to €5.73

Ahead of its interim results which will be published tomorrow, food provider Total Produce experienced very heavy trading, with volumes reaching over 12 million in Dublin. The price of the stock remained static however, closing at €0.55.

As crude oil fell to a five-month low of $105.46 a barrel, US stocks rallied, with airlines performing particularly well. By 11.13 am, the S&P 500 had gained 11.37, or 0.9 per cent, to 1,294.2, while both Delta Airlines and UAL Corp, United Airlines’ parent company, had risen by more than 15 per cent each.

In Europe, stock markets benefited from the falling price of oil, which boosted aviation and motorcar stocks.

In Frankfurt, the DAX advanced by 1.9 per cent to 6,542.65, while in Paris the CAC 40 also had a good day, adding 1.8 per cent to reach 4,524.84. In London, the FTSE 100 increased by 0.6 per cent to 5,634.0.