Banks gain ground as market climbs on good news elsewhere

IRISH shares went strongly ahead again yesterday, taking heart from record highs on Wall Street and gains in London. The Dublin market added three-quarters of one per cent to the overall value of stocks with most stocks looking better.

The banks found favour once again, attracting more interest than earlier in the week. AIB forged ahead to gain 5p on the day closing at 450p. Bank of Ireland also rallied strongly, with the stock dealing up to 647 1/2p, going 7 1/2p better.

Among the other financials, Irish Permanent had an up-and-down day, with the stock rising to 623p in early trading before ending at 620p, unchanged from the previous day. Irish Life managed to recover ground lost early in the trading session and even rose a penny to 331p at one stage, before closing unchanged at 330p. Woodchester stayed unchanged at 272p.

Smurtit enjoyed a good run going 5p better to 170p, having tested highs of up to 172p in early trading. CRH looked firmer but was unable to hold on to all of the gains notched up during the session. The stock had dealt up to 654p before slipping back to close a 3p better at 651p.

In the food sector, it was fairly quiet. Avonmore moved up to 235p, gaining 2 1/2p, Golden Vale added a penny to 62p, while Fyffes was unchanged at 112p.

Other stocks benefiting from the stronger tone were Arnotts which climbed 12p to 390p, FBD went a penny better to 246p and Kingspan, which soared ahead, adding 40p to close at 655p.

Brokers expect that the market will be edgy ahead of key US data due later this week. Retail sales figures to be followed by producer prices could fuel expectations of a US interest rate rise if the numbers are strong.

Irish bonds drifted off after a firm start yesterday in sympathy with declining US Treasuries. Dealers said that activity would be capped by supply factors ahead of next week's auction of £150 million of 8 per cent bond by the National Treasury Management Agency. Yesterday, the 6 1/2 per cent bond due in 2001 was down 5p to £102 to yield 5.89 per cent while the key benchmark 8 per cent bond due in 2006 was unchanged at £109.60 on a yield of 6.49 per cent.