Financial shares failed to hold most of their gains after the initial stimulus from the confirmation of the Bank of Ireland/Alliance & Leicester merger proposal. The main reason for the late fall-off was down to London where the banking sector - driven ahead in morning trading by the merger talks - failed to follow through and much of the rally petered out.
In Dublin, the initial surge saw Bank of Ireland jump from the overnight €18.60 (£14.65) to an early high of €20.30 (£15.99) before falling away in later trading to close up 80 cents on €19.40 (£15.28). The pattern was the same for AIB, which peaked in early trading at €14.40 (£11.34) before ending up 30 cents on €14.00 (£11.03).
Smaller financials also notched up good gains, with Anglo Irish up 14 cents on €2.65 (£2.09), First Active up 30 cents on €4.00 (£3.15) and Irish Life & Permanent at £8.18 sterling.
Industrials were mixed, with CRH taking a sharp dive to close down 70 cents on €17.00 (£13.39), although trading volumes were low. James Crean was unchanged on €1.10 (£0.87) - unmoved by news that Mr Ray McLoughlin had bought one million shares in the group - while Grafton was 15 cents firmer on €19.25 (£15.16) as its Heiton stake-building continues.
Powerscreen did not trade in Dublin but was up 5p to 170p sterling in London on speculation of a £160 million sterling bid from Terex. Ryanair remained in demand and rose 20 cents to a new high of €9.10 (£7.17) ahead of results on Friday.
