BofI and CRH stocks rise fuelling Iseq's rally

Iseq:2,480.79 (+50.67) Settlement date:October 8th

DUBLIN JOINED in the general market rally on the back of speculation that euro zone policy makers are looking at measures to insulate the banking sectors from a Greek default.

The ISEQ overall index closed up 2.09 per cent at 2480.79 while Irish bond yields resumed their downward path again having surrendered some of their remarkable progress earlier this week.

The nominal yield on the generic Irish 10-year bond closed at 7.629 having opened at 7.7 per cent, according to Bloomberg.

Notwithstanding the deteriorating international position, further tightening can be expected as €20 billion of outstanding Irish debt is redeemed over the coming months, according to Glas Securities.

Bank of Ireland was among the most traded stocks, gaining 9.5 per cent to close at 8.2 cent a share in a busy day that saw 263 million shares traded. AIB fell 2.7 per cent to 3.5 cent with some 6.5 million shares changing hands.

Tullow Oil had a mixed day and rose more than 1.7 per cent at one stage before giving up most of its gains to close at €14.505. One of its UK peers, Premier Oil, announced it was to buy North Sea-focused Encore Oil for £221 million or $20 per barrel in terms of reserves.

Ryanair announced a 6 per cent increase in passenger traffic in September and was rewarded by investors with a 1 per cent fall in its share price. It closed at €3.165.

Dragon Oil rose more than 1 per cent as its share purchase programme continues apace. It announced that it bought 265,114 shares this week at between 454p and 461.25p. It closed at €5.376 in Dublin.

Other shares attracting interest were CRH, which climbed 5.57 per cent to €11.95; Kerry was down 0.59 per cent to €25.40 and Paddy Power advanced 2.63 per cent to €38.