THE market ended the day slightly higher, boosted mainly by demand for the two big bank stocks. A £4 million order for one million AIB shares boosted its share price to 400p up 8p. Bank of Ireland ended up 5p at 513p. Traders said it was very well bid and can be expected to go ahead strong on Monday.
The financial stocks are also well underpinned by strong bond markets here and overseas. Irish Permanent ended flat at 471p while Irish Life put on 1 1/2p to close at 273p. "There is basically a very strong demand for all the financials," one dealer said.
The other leaders had a quiet day. Smurfit lost 1p to close at 165p while CRH remained flat at 631p.
Jones Group didn't trade after it announced its subsidiary Dublin Shipping disposed of the mv Rathmoy for £2.1 million. The book value of the vessel is £1.4 million and the proceeds will be used to reduce group borrowings.
The bond market opened a little better on the back of credit data on Thursday which came in lower than expected and after a successful overnight auction in the US.
However, the market came off a little in the afternoon but still ended the day a little better.
Most interest was at the longer end while the short end of the curve failed to make any real headway.
Traders said the market's attention was now focusing on the possibility of higher credit figures next month. "September could easily have been a once off," one trader said.