Rising AIB fails to pull market higher

Market report:After Tuesday's see-saw, it was swings and roundabouts on the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday as reassuring murmurs from AIB pushed the banking stocks ahead, while the soaring cost of oil sent Ryanair sliding.

The Iseq's number one stock by market capitalisation, AIB, reported full-year results that were more or less in line with analysts' expectations, and the stock climbed 45 cent to €13.90, well ahead of its European peer group.

The bank's announcement that it is making €131 million in subprime-related writedowns did not prompt too much horror, with the market's main concern being that it had not cleared the balance sheet of all of the toxic investments that have hit other major banking groups much harder.

Volumes in the banks were thin in the morning, but picked up later in the day as AIB's management satisfied investors that there are no nasty surprises still to be sprung.

Some 3.1 million AIB shares traded, while there was volume of four million in Bank of Ireland. The latter swung from a price of €9.25 to €9.51 yesterday, before settling flat at €9.45.

As oil hit $100 per barrel again in the hours before European markets opened, there was pressure on airline stocks, and Ryanair closed down 3.4 per cent at €3.40, seeing its wings clipped by 12 cent. A heavy 7.4 million shares were traded in Dublin and London.

There was some buying interest in cement-maker Readymix, which said in a trading statement that operating profit had declined 65 per cent last year, but that 2008 results would show an improvement. The stock rose five cent, or 3.7 per cent, to €1.42.

With Anglo Irish Bank, CRH and C&C all finishing slightly off, the overall Iseq index could not mirror AIB's performance, and it finished down marginally, losing five points .

Settlement day: February 25th