DUBLIN REPORT Iseq: 2,852.20 (+34.17) Settlement date: June 8th

THE IRISH Stock Exchange was buoyed by strong performances in the markets led by Allied Irish Banks and Ryanair and closed up 34.17, or 1.21 per cent, at 2852.20.

Brokers pointed to these two stocks as the main reasons behind the Iseq’s strong day with Allied Irish Banks producing an outstanding performance, up 17.65 per cent to close at €1.88.

Dealers said the bank could simply be catching up after lagging behind Bank of Ireland over the last few weeks. The remaining financial stocks had a mixed performance with Bank of Ireland increasing slightly by 1.97 per cent to close at €1.81.

Irish Life and Permanent however, failed to attract the same level of interest and fell sharply in afternoon trading to close down 2.94 per cent at €3.40. Brokers highlighted that the stock could be feeling the effects of some profittaking during the day, which was moved into Allied Irish Banks instead.

Meanwhile, Ryanair also performed strongly – jumping 4.52 per cent to close at €3.696. However, Aer Lingus in contrast produced a largely unremarkable day closing flat at €0.71.

CRH, the market’s largest constituent, attracted a reasonable amount of attention but dipped to close at €17.58.

Food stocks rallied throughout the day with Glanbia rising 6.33 per cent to finish at €2.52. Kerry also followed this trend closing up at €16.75.

Kingspan and Grafton closed down, with brokers attributing that result to profit-taking. The stocks fell 10.10 per cent to €4.63 and 3.43 per cent to €3.10 respectively.

Paddy Power had a flat day closing at €17.00, a drop of 1.16 per cent, despite its Australian acquisition.

Drinks group CC also had a largely unremarkable performance closing down at €2.32.