Iseq rises in line with Europe

Today's expected move by the European Central Bank to leave interest rates untouched had no discernible impact on the Irish market, which rose broadly in line with European markets. The Iseq added 32.84 points, to advance by 1.1 per cent to 2,927.94.

Positive momentum behind construction stock CRH buoyed the overall index, as it added 34 cent, or 2.4 per cent, to climb to € 14.54.

Particularly strong on the day was Elan, which advanced by 5.7 per cent on the back of broker upgrades. It added 39 cent to finish the day up at € 7.18, following a move by UBS to upgrade the stock from "neutral" to "buy". The bank also added the stock to its Top 20 Key Calls list.

Also benefiting from a broker upgrade was drinks group C&C, which JP Morgan promoted to “overweight” from “neutral”. It gained as a result, adding 6 cent, or 1.6 per cent, to close up at € 3.60.

Amongst the financials, there was heavy selling in Irish Life & Permanent this afternoon, following a High Court order facilitating the sale of its insurance arm, Irish Life. The stock fell by 2 cent, or 26.7 per cent, to close down at €0.06.

After heavy trading in Bank of Ireland on Wednesday, it lost almost 1 cent, or 4.9 per cent, to close down at € 0.135 today, following publication of its debt for equity swap offer.

Grafton Group was also off on the day, following poor sales results for Home Retail Group, owner of Argos, in the UK. It gave up 4 cent, or 1.0 per cent, to fall back to € 3.40.

Food group Kerry fell back slightly, losing 22 cent, or 0.7 per cent, to close down at € 29.30.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 was up by 0.8 per cent, while in France the CAC 40 climbed by 1.1 per cent and Germany's DAX rose by 1.4 per cent.

On the bond markets, the yield on 10-year Irish government bonds rose by 21 basis points to 11.08 per cent, the most since May 31st, on the back of continuing uncertainty over the Greek crisis.