The Ise outperformed other European markets for most of the day, although it ended the day only slightly higher at 3,340. Volumes were below average.
On the one-year anniversary of the bank guarantee scheme, Bank of Ireland was by far the most heavily traded stock yesterday, with over 17 million shares traded in Dublin. The share price soared by 6 per cent to close at €3.27 on the back of a very strong performance by Bank of Ireland ADR overnight on the American markets, and the news that the bank had successfully raised €1 billion through a bond issue.
Volumes were much lighter on AIB. It ended the day fractionally lower at €3.23, while Irish Life & Permanent was off 3.7 per cent at €5.67.
Shares in Independent News & Media lost 13 per cent of their value as investors took stock of the implied equity dilution arising from the announcement of a debt restructuring deal in which bondholders will be given 46 per cent in a debt for equity swap.
C &C continued to attract a lot of investor attention, as the cider company announced the completion of its acquisition of Anheuser-Busch InBev's Irish, Scottish and Northern Irish businesses. C & C's share price lost 4 per cent, however, with traders noting profit-taking after weeks of activity around the stock.
Interim Results for Irish exploration firm Petroceltic this morning showed that the company's losses increased in the first half of 2009, sending its share price 8 per cent lower at one stage, although it recovered slightly to end the day just over 1.5 per cent off.
Pharmaceutical company Elan put in a solid performance throughout the session, following the announcement of a debt refinancing deal, but its share price slipped back in the afternoon to close marginally higher at €4.95, reflecting the fact that the refinancing had been widely expected by the market.
Europe's main stock markets closed lower this evening.
In London, falls in mining and technology stocks outweighed buoyant financials, as the FTSE closed 0.1 per cent lower at 5,160 after a choppy day of trading.
The Paris CAC fell by 11 points, or 0.28 per cent to close at 3,814, despite a rise in banking stocks, as French banking giant, BNP Paribas announced a major capital raising plan.
The Frankfurt Dax was also down, closing 23 points or 0.4 per cent at 5,714.
US stocks traded lower today after disappointing data revealed that US consumer confidence fell back in September. As the main European markets were closing, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq were down between 0.3 and 0.6 per cent.
