Settlement Day: April 28th
Business was brisk in Dublin yesterday as investors indulged in optimistic buying across the board. Trade was heaviest among the headline stocks, with several chunky deals driving the market up by 1.67 per cent.
Most of the financials took their lead from peers in the London market and ended the day on a high. AIB gained 25 cents to close at €13.55 amid talk that the bank may have made another move on its buyback. Almost four million AIB shares were traded in Dublin.
Bank of Ireland was even busier, with 4.5 million units changing hands over a number of large transactions. The stock closed up 30 cents at 10.85. Anglo Irish also benefited from the general upturn, gaining two cents to reach 6.77 as buyers jumped on board in advance of next week's results.
Irish Life & Permanent bucked the trend, suffering as Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on the company as a result of its exposure to the life sector. The company, which traded up early in the day, ended three cents lower at 10.50.
CRH went along with the positive flow, adding 35 cents to finish at 13.65.
More than five million shares were traded in Independent News & Media, which went ex-rights yesterday. The stock closed at €1.23, down nine cents. Dealers reported one trade of about three million shares, noting that the closing price was the equivalent of about 1.38 in Tuesday's valuations.
Kingspan was also busy, closing up 15 cents at €2.30 as about 1.3 million shares traded. Dealers said the market had digested the firm's recent results and decided it represented a good bet.
