AIB outperforms Iseq during sluggish session

Dublin Report: Neither buyers nor sellers were much in evidence on the Iseq yesterday, with volumes remaining anaemic across the board and prices slipping lower.

Settlement Day: May 30th

Fewer than five stocks managed to trade any more than one million shares, with the main names accounting for most activity.

AIB outperformed both its sector and the market by gaining nine cent to close at €16.75 on continued speculation over its possible entry into the Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro-zone shares.

Bank of Ireland moved in the opposite direction, shedding ten cent to finish at €12.60. Anglo Irish was also weaker, falling by seven cent to €9.80.

Irish Life & Permanent finished unchanged at €13.55.

The main news on the day was provided by Greencore, which bucked the market trend after issuing interim results.

Shares in the food firm climbed by two cent to €3.26, although dealers did not attribute the rise to the results, which they said were mixed.

Instead, they suggested that Greencore had benefited from reports that it could be due a windfall under rumoured EU plans to buy back part of its sugar quota under a new sugar regime.

Elsewhere, Ryanair slipped back by one cent to €6.17 as oil prices moved up again. The stock was one of the busiest on the day, with 1.2 million shares traded.

CRH recorded a similar volume as its shares declined by one cent to close at €20.62.

United Drug was another of the more popular names, as close to 900,000 of its shares changed hands. The pharmaceutical distributor was unchanged at €3.53 at the close. The Iseq exchange-traded fund was one of the few names to end on the positive side, with its units rising by one cent to €12.58.

Viridian was one of the biggest losers, falling by 30 cent to €10.55, although the move came on very low volume.

Thirdforce fell by four cent to 28 cent after shareholders heard that it was trying to acquire a private UK e-learning provider.