The big action on the Dublin market today was in CRH, which soared on positive US newsflow.
The cement stock was “strong, strong, strong”, one broker said, and forged ahead by almost 6.5 per cent, or €1.30, to €21.50.
This jump gave a major boost to the overall market as CRH has a 33 per cent weighting in the Iseq, and the Dublin index closed up almost 3 per cent.
CRH’s stellar performance was attributed to its exposure to the US, where there are growing signs of an economic recovery. The stock’s peers have been performing well on the back of upbeat incremental newsflow from the US of late, so there was an element of “catch-up” at play today, a broker explained.
Although the euro rallied after Greece requested activation of the EU/IMF aid package today, this development had no discernable effect on the Irish market. There was little movement in the banking names, with AIB rising fractionally to €1.50 and Bank of Ireland shedding a cent to €1.80.
Financial services provider IFG moved ahead by more than 6 per cent, or 8 cent, to €1.30.
One broker described the upward momentum on the Dublin market as “very much a cyclical-led rally” and said that investors were “buying into the recovery story”.
Grafton Group was lifted 1.5 per cent, about 5 cent, to €3.50, while packaging giant Smurfit Kappa added almost 3 per cent, or 20 cent, to €7.20.
In the airline sector, low-fares carrier Ryanair closed more than 2 per cent up at €3.92, while Aer Lingus gained one cent to finish at 73 cent.
Travel software provider Datalex enjoyed a very strong day, rising almost 8 per cent, bringing it to 14 cent. Donegal Creameries was also a winner, closing up 10 cent at €2.20.
Across Europe, Britain's the FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 added 0.7 to 1.5 per cent.
Additional reporting - Reuters