Financials take centre stage as AIB gains 21 cents

Settlement Day: April 3rdFinancial shares were once again the main focus of trading on the Dublin market with sizeable volumes of AIB and Bank of Ireland shares changing hands.

AIB has steadied after the heavy falls following the Allfirst revelations and the shares gained 21 cents to €13.95 with more than 2.6 million changing hands.

A substantial upgrade from JP Morgan had no immediate impact on Bank of Ireland which edged three cents lower to €12.50. In its report on Bank of Ireland, JP Morgan said it had raised its fair value for the shares from €12.50 to €13.50 and retained its "buy" rating on the stock.

"We believe that Bank of Ireland should continue to benefit from an economic recovery in Ireland which is heavily geared to a US recovery," it said in its commentary.

Power Leisure edged ahead another 10 cents to €4.85 after the big placing on Tuesday. The bookmaking group denied a report that it was planning a bid for Coral, Britain's third-biggest bookmaking chain although Power indicated that it might look to buy a small part of the Coral operation if it was offered.

Elsewhere, Arnotts was 33 cents higher on €8.15 after results ahead of expectations, although turnover in the stock was very low. CRH gained 14 cents to €19.95 while Greencore was unchanged on €3.19 after a pre-close period statement which contained little in the way of new information.

Ryanair was 10 cents higher on €6.65 after the heavy London trading on Tuesday while Smurfit was a cent lower on €2.73.