Many wild price swings on day of ups and downs

DUBLIN REPORT LAURA SLATTERY Iseq: 6,143.99 (+25.62) Settlement date: April 28th
THE ISEQ index of Irish shares dipped yesterday morning but climbed in the afternoon.

The index closed up 25 points at 6,143 yesterday afternoon, after a topsy-turvy day that saw many stocks see wild swings in their share price.

In the morning, the Dublin market suffered the spillover effects of negative sentiment from the UK's financial markets, where Royal Bank of Scotland's shareholders have been searching for cash to fund the bank's £12 billion (€15 billion) rights issue.

But Irish banks trading on the Iseq managed to escape the worst of the fallout from Royal Bank of Scotland's plea for cash, which dragged FTSE-listed banks in London down by an average of between 3 and 4 per cent.

Encouragingly, there was decent volume evident in the Irish banks.

AIB added 11 cent to finish at €13.14 and Bank of Ireland added eight cent to close at €8.98.

Anglo Irish Bank shed 12 cent to finish the day on €7.80, but this 1.5 per cent decline was still enough to outperform the British banks.

Irish Life & Permanent went against the grain, sliding 6 per cent to €11.10, down 71 cent. But dealers attributed this to the company's payout of a large dividend - 52 cent - that resulted in investors flipping the stock in search of a quick profit.

Elsewhere, there was some volatility in Ryanair's share price, which traded in the range of €2.51 to €2.64 before closing flat at €2.63.

Tullow Oil was the beneficiary of persistently strong crude oil prices and it climbed 6 per cent on its Dublin listing, adding 55 cent to close at €9.50.

Overall, the rising fortunes of the Dow Jones index in New York during the afternoon lifted the market up into its positive closing position.