Iseq: 2,921.82 (+12.56) Settlement date: May 27th:THE ISEQ advanced with other European markets yesterday, as investors returned to Irish index bellwether Ryanair.
Investors had shied away from the low-cost airline on Monday after it sounded a cautious note for the year ahead, and revealed intentions to cut winter capacity. However Ryanair’s “story” was going down well now and buyers came back into the name yesterday, a Dublin broker said.
Although it had to cancel all flights to and from Scotland yesterday afternoon due to the latest volcanic eruption in Iceland, the ash cloud had no impact on Ryanair’s share price, which rose 1.2 per cent, or 4.3 cents, to €3.40 on decent volume.
Indeed the airline sector in general advanced yesterday, and Aer Lingus also added more than 1 per cent, or one cent, to just under 80 cents.
Elsewhere, food group Greencore fell out of favour despite reporting 4 per cent growth in first-half group sales. Although one trader described the results as disappointing, others felt they were reasonable given the backdrop of a weak consumer environment and margin pressures.
The stock had been pushed up from about €1.05 to €1.20 ahead of its results on the back of speculation of a possible private equity bid. However when an announcement of this kind failed to materialise, Greencore pared its gains, slipping about four cents to just below €1.17.
Software stock Datalex put in one of the strongest performances of the day after issuing an upbeat trading statement. It added more than 9 per cent, or three cents, to 35 cents on strong volume.
The Iseq index was also supported by a decent turn from cement giant CRH, which rose to €15.18 – up 10.5 cent on the day – after the US released positive home sales figures for April. Overall the Iseq index rose 0.4 per cent.
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