Relief as Iseq bucks downward trend

Dublin report:It was another volatile day on the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday, yet the Iseq managed to come out on top.

Concerns about the health of the US economy hit overseas markets, with the FTSE, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq all feeling the pinch, but for once the Iseq came out relatively unscathed, finishing 19 points up at 6,487.53.

Volumes were reasonable as value-buyers made a return to the market, but failed to excite analysts.

C&C continued to be a closely-watched stock throughout the day's trading after its helter-skelter run of the past few days. It finished 0.495 per cent down at €3.821.

Some financials were still feeling the weight of a potential economic downturn in the US, with Bank of Ireland trading relatively flat before finishing a little over 1 per cent down.

Anglo Irish, meanwhile, was under pressure once again, losing more than 0.3 per cent to finish at €9.12.

However, AIB had a good day, with its shares gaining almost 4 per cent during the session, before falling back a little to end at €14.90, a 1.430 per cent gain.

Meanwhile, Irish Life & Permanent gained 3.030 per cent by the end of the session to finish at €10.20, a level that analysts say appears to be attracting a few buyers.

Ryanair had a good day, gaining more than 2.4 per cent at the close of trading.

Aer Lingus rose 3.72 per cent, but volumes were low as the stock is tightly held.

Independent News & Media recovered a little from yesterday's 6.5 per cent fall, gaining 1.001 per cent to finish at €2.22

Settlement Day: January 22nd