The Irish stock market continued to ride the coat-tails of its European peers today, and moved closer to the all-important 3,000 resistance level.
Investor confidence improved across Europe for a third day as upbeat earnings and unexpected growth in the region calmed fears of a double-dip recession. This swell of positive sentiment lifted the Iseq index of Irish shares by more than 2 per cent to just under 2,938.
Volumes were strong on the day, with financial stocks the main drivers behind this.
Bank of Ireland was actively traded and closed the day up more than 4 per cent at almost 73 cent. AIB was also positive, gaining about 2 per cent to 90 cent.
Irish Life & Permanent was pretty uninspiring, however, shedding one cent to €1.56.
Outside the financials, cement stock CRH broke through the €16.00 mark and traded all the way up to €16.33 by the close. This represented a jump of more than 4 per cent, which was pretty much in line with the rest of its sector.
Low-fares airline Ryanair, which announced it would open a base in Seville in November, bounced by 2.6 per cent, or 10 cent, to €4.05.
Rival carrier Aer Lingus also gained altitude on the day. The airline released a pretty positive trading update and although this was issued very late in the session, the stock bounced about five cent to 94 cent.
Drugmaker Elan tumbled more than 3 per cent, or 12 cent, to €3.76, after announcing that its losses had widened in the second quarter.
Across Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 rose 1.8 per cent, Germany's DAX advanced 2.4 per cent and France's CAC 40 increased 3 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg