DUBLIN REPORT:TRADERS REPORTED a quiet day of trading in Dublin yesterday as the Iseq index of Irish shares edged up 0.87 per cent, or 48.54 points, to close at 5,619.84.
The index had broken through the 5,700 mark at lunchtime but traders said poor economic data emerging from the United States led to a sell-off in the afternoon, particularly among the financial stocks.
It was the banks that were first out of the blocks in the morning as positive sentiment towards the FTSE banking sector spread across the Irish Sea, driving them up by as much as 3 per cent.
That changed when the US markets opened for business. Although Goldman Sachs booked a $2.1 billion quarterly profit, providing further evidence that it has escaped the worst of the credit crunch, and oil prices edged downwards, traders said weak economic figures from the US dampened afternoon trading.
Irish Life and Permanent was one of the bigger losers on the day, closing down almost 3 per cent at €9.35.
The shares traded across a 7 per cent spread over the day, at one point they were up 4 per cent, and traders said the volatility was probably related to a trading statement due to be released tomorrow.
Drug development company Elan made the biggest gains, finishing up almost 6 per cent at €8.18.
Earlier in the day, Elan had released encouraging results from a phase two clinical trial of the Alzheimer's drug Bapineuzumab, which it is developing with Wyeth.
Airline stocks benefited from an early easing of oil prices in New York which fell below $132.50. Ryanair was up 2.9 per cent at the close to €3.19 while Aer Lingus benefited even more and finished at €1.64, a 4.5 per cent gain.
A profit warning overnight from international peer Chiquita saw Fyffes down 1.4 per cent to 70c.
Iseq: 5,619.84 (+48.54) Settlement date: June 20th
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