Given the scale of the sell-off in the previous two days, it was not altogether surprising the major bank shares rallied yesterday. But, with AIB in particular weakening again in later trading, dealers said the rally had all the characteristics of a "dead cat's bounce" and that bank shares are likely to trade around current levels in the short term.
AIB had a good start and hit a high of €9.34 in morning trading before renewed weakness drove the share to a close of €9.17, a gain of 43 1/2 cents. Bank of Ireland managed to hold on to its early gains and closed 57 cents higher at its best level of the day, €6.75.
The star among the industrials was Independent News & Media, which drove ahead 95 cents to a new €8.75 high as investors piled into the stock ahead of the launch of its Internet portal today. CRH clawed back a goodly portion of the recent losses with a 75 cent jump to €19.33. Eircom was also in better shape after its BT-inspired weakness on Wednesday and closed 18 cents higher on €4.20.
It was not all black ink among the industrials: Ryanair succumbed to profit-taking and lost 25 cents to €12.95, while Smurfit was 11 cents weaker on €2.78.
Trintech was the star of the tech stocks, with no let-up in demand after the announcement of the link-up with Motorola. Trading volumes in both Frankfurt and New York were, however, light, with no sign of any big sellers yet taking advantage of the boom in the share price. On the Neuer Markt, the shares closed up €8.16 on €85 while in New York the shares were trading $8 higher on $78 as the Irish market closed.
Iona also put in a strong performance. It was trading over $2 higher, above $51, as Dublin closed, after the announcement of a multimillion dollar contract with Credit Suisse.
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