Iseq climbs marginally as banks dominate

The Irish market was largely flat today, climbing marginally by just 1.85 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, to finish the day at 2,465.15. During the day the market peaked at around 2 pm before selling off when US markets opened.

The banks continue to be dogged by "rumour, speculation and counter-speculation", as one broker sees it, but overall they held up well today, with both AIB and Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) advancing.

AIB added 4 cent, or 1.7 per cent, to climb to €2.33, while IL&P gained 8 cent, or 7.0 per cent to finish the day up at €1.23, despite coming out of MSCI's dividend index, which has led to a sell-off in recent days, indicating the strong interest from the buy-side in the bank.

Bank of Ireland was the under-performer on the day, falling back by 11 cent or 8.0 per cent to €1.22, with Anglo Irish Bank also down on the day. It gave up 7 cent, or 6.7 per cent, to close at €0.92.

Greencore announced full-year results today, which were in line with expectations. As a result the stock fell back only marginally, closing down by 4 cent, or 3.8 per cent, at €1.05.

Decent interest in CRH saw it close up by 67 cent, or 4.1 per cent at €17.18 but an aggressive seller in Glanbia saw the stock fall by 25 cent, or 11.9 per cent, to finish down at €1.85.

The Iseq was also dragged down by other stocks coming out of MSCI indices, including Blackrock, CPL, Origin and Icon, all of which fell out of the MSCI Small Cap Index due to declining capitalisations.

After advancing by 14 per cent yesterday, Smurfit Kappa gave up almost all of its gains today and was down by an equivalent amount at one stage, before a late rally saw it close down by 21 cent, or 10.4 per cent, at €1.80.

The UK government's decision to raise travel taxes hit Ryanair, and it lost 6 cent on the day, falling back by 2 per cent to €2.94.

In the US, it was a volatile morning, despite the commitment from the Federal Reserve to allocate $800 billion to unfreeze the credit markets. By 10.52 am, the S&P was down by 0.5 per cent at 847.76, having been up by as much as 2 per cent earlier in the morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had also slipped back by mid-morning, giving up 11.87 points, or 0.1 per cent, to fall back to 8,431.52.

Across Europe, stocks advanced for a second day, led by financial stocks, as UBS and Societe Generale SA rallied by more than 7 per cent. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.6 per cent to 198.72, while in France, the CAC 40 closed up by 1.2 per cent, and in Germany, the DAX was up by 0.1 per cent.

In the UK, both Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Barclays gained more than 5 per cent after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said policy makers are committed to reviving the flow of credit through the economy. Overall, the FTSE 100 Index rose by 18.29 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4,171.25.