Iseq rises as bank shares gain

The Irish index of shares was up 26 points this afternoon as bank shares buoyed the market.

AIB rose 3.5 per cent to €1.58 in the day's trade, while Bank of ireland was close behind, gaining 3 per cent to €1.34.

The bounce came after banks began to receive acquisition schedules from the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) detailing which loans will be acquired by the agency, and at what price. Nama has shown for the first time the valuation calculations it has followed.

Bank of Ireland and Irish Nationwide received their first acquisition schedules yesterday. EBS is expected to receive its schedules today. AIB and Anglo Irish Bank will receive their acquisition schedules later than the other three participating institutions because they are transferring the largest loans to Nama, and because they provided valuations and legal due diligence on the loans and underlying properties later than the others.

Irish Life and Permanent, which is not participating in Nama was trading slightly off, down 0.3 per cent to €3.09.

Glanbia was also up, rising 1.9 per cent to €2.57, while airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus gained 0.8 per cent each.

Meanwhile, European shares rose in early trade today, hitting a 17-month high, with banks led higher by gains in Lloyds Banking Group after the UK lender said it would return to profitability in 2010.

By 0932 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 0.3 per cent to 1,073.21 points, after rising to as high as 1,075.44, a level not seen since October 2008. The index has gained 1.2 per cent so far this week, on track for the third straight weekly gain.

Banks were higher, led by a 7.8 per cent rise in Lloyds Banking Group as the lender said it would swing back to profit this year after two years of heavy losses, helped by lower bad debts and tight cost controls.

Barclays, HSBC, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank were up 0.3 to 1.9 per cent.

Drugmakers were higher, adding to gains from the previous session, with AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis and Novartis up 0.3 to 1 per cent.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.2 to 0.4 per cent.

Additional reporting - Reuters