Market Report:SHARES IN Dublin edged up yesterday ahead of the May Day holiday on very light volumes and some good economic news out of the US. The Iseq closed the day up 0.38 per cent. Given the slight volumes in recent weeks, that was some achievement.
Construction stocks Grafton and Kingspan led the market lower in the morning following a downbeat note from NCB and more gloomy news from the British housing market. Grafton, up five cent, or 1 per cent, to € 5.15, and Kingspan up five cent, or 0.7 per cent, to € 7.45, rebounded strongly in afternoon trading along with the rest of the market.
The catalyst was a better-than-expected 0.6 per cent expansion in the US economy in the first quarter, easing fears the world's largest economy is flirting with a recession. A report showing US crude oil stocks rose by more than expected last month pushed oil prices back below $115 a barrel, and boosted airline stocks.
Ryanair finished the day up 10.5 cents, or 3.7 per cent, at €2.96. Tullow Oil shrugged off oil's decline, announcing it had hit oil and gas at its Banda well, off the coast of Mauritania, closing the day up 10 cent in to €9.60.
The banks all saw reasonable volumes yesterday. Anglo Irish Bank gained 10 cent to € 9 and Bank of Ireland was up nine cent to €8.95.
AIB eased back half a cent to €13.55, while Irish Life & Permanent was one of the day's poorest performers, dropping 56 cent, or 5.2 per cent, to € 10.28 following Central Bank figures showing a fall in mortgage approvals last month.
The market also appeared to be unnerved by IL&P's announcement that it will release a management statement this morning. This had not been announced previously and was seen by some brokers as only likely to contain bad news.
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