Spurred by the three per cent rise in London and a strong early advance in New York, the Irish stock market soared to a new all-time high yesterday, with over £600 million added to the value of shares. The British government may have dismissed the Financial Times story of an early EMU entry for sterling as "complete speculation", but the FT report was taken seriously by the markets.
In London, as sterling plunged against the German mark, shares posted their biggest one-day rise for 10 years. The FTSE closed up over 160 points on 5226.3, a rise of over 3 per cent.
The main affect in both London and Dublin was felt by financial shares and Government paper, all of which closed well up on the day. In Dublin, the demand for financial shares was reinforced by a move into the sector by institutional investors ahead of the sale of Woodchester Investments and New Ireland and the subsequent release of over £300 million in cash into the market.
Over three per cent was added to the value of Irish shares with Bank of Ireland up 28p to 840p and AIB up 20p on 610p. Second-line financial shares also benefited with Irish Life 13p higher on 360p, Irish Permanent up 7p on 635p and Anglo Irish Bank up 1p on 104p. The ISEQ Overall Index closed up almost 62 points on a new high of 3758.16.
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