Investors welcome Anglo Irish share placing

Market Report: The biggest placing in the Dublin market's history dominated trade yesterday, but it could not prevent the Iseq index of Irish shares bucking the general trend in Europe and shedding 8.55 points to close at 7,459.3.

Anglo Irish Bank was all the rage after it placed 33 million new shares, equal to five per cent of its total issued share capital. It was the largest such placing of its kind in the Irish Stock Exchange's history.

Investors reacted enthusiastically to the news. Brokers said a total of 12 million units were traded between Dublin and London, with the Dublin market accounting for approximately 8.5 million of them.

The stock closed 10 cent up at €12.80, but traded well above that level during the day.

Another high-profile stock, Elan, went the other direction. A downgrading in its status from Lehman Brothers in New York sent it south.

It dropped €1.34 or 10 per cent to €12.16, but had been trading at slightly lower levels during the day, according to brokers. One dealer said its poor performance was the only blot on a positive day. Just under 370,000 shares changed hands in Dublin, but most of the activity in the stock was in New York yesterday afternoon.

The two biggest banks made some gains. AIB closed seven cent up at €71.92 on volumes of 1.4 million, while Bank of Ireland added five cent to end the day at €13.55, with four million shares changing hands. In the same sector, Irish Life & Permanent closed three cent off at €17.12.

Ryanair began to recoup some of the ground it lost earlier in the week, and added 11 cent to close at €7.86.

Builder McInerney gained 20 cent to close at €11.15 after issuing a positive trading statement. Horizon Technology also issued a statement, which predicted its results would match market expectations. It shed two cent to close at €1.26. Dealers said neither statement produced any surprises.