The Irish index kept pace with rising European markets today, propelled by buoyant banking stocks.
AIB and Bank of Ireland were among the 84 banks to pass the EU stress tests last week. The results were announced after the markets closed on Friday evening, and as a result the full impact was absorbed by markets today.
AIB bounced about 5.5 per cent, or five cent, to 95 cent, while Bank of Ireland gained almost 5 per cent to just under 78 cent.
In terms of volume, the market centred around the banks. Some 13.5 million Bank of Ireland shares changed hands in Dublin. Volumes in AIB improved from recent levels to 2.5 million shares in the Dublin line. “It’s good to see a few buyers coming back into the name,” one trader said.
Otherwise it was a typical Monday session, with volumes very thin and the market pretty featureless in terms of newsflow. Exploration company Tullow Oil was the exception to this, recording good gains after announcing an oil discovery.
“This significant discovery is critical as it ends Tullow’s recent relatively disappointing drilling updates over the past 12 months,” Bloxham stockbrokers said in its morning note. The stock jumped more than 5 per cent to £12.39 (€14.77) on the London Stock Exchange.
The Iseq was also helped by building materials group CRH, which made a strong start to the week, rising 1.7 per cent, or almost 28 cent, to €16.48.
Elsewhere in the sector, Kingspan was also positive, closing up about 1.4 per cent to just under €5.48.
Ryanair, which announced to the market this afternoon that its chief financial officer Howard Millar had exercised share options, gained about 0.5 per cent, or two cent, to close at €3.95.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.7 per cent, a 10-week closing high. Germany's DAX gained 0.5 per cent and France's CAC 40 rose 0.8 per cent.
Additional reporting: Reuters