The Irish index of shares rose this afternoon, mirroring a Europe-wide rise in stocks.
By 2.02pm, the Iseq was trading up 22.06 points at 2,972.94.
The passing of the Nama legislation through the Dáil and Seanad last night had an initial impact on bank shares, with AIB and Bank of Ireland showing some gains in early trading. By 8.30, AIB had added 3.1 per cent to trade at €1.98. The gains reversed by mid-morning, turning to a -1.5 per cent lost by 1.30pm.
Bank of Ireland had a more subdued start to the day, rising 0.64 per cent by 8.30am to €1.877. Further gains during the morning's session advanced the shares by as much as 1.8 per cent before giving up some gains and falling back to €1.874, or 0.4 per cent up. By 2pm, that gain had falled further to 0.26 per cent.
Irish Life & Permanent was in negative territory this afternoon, down 2.7 per cent to €4.60 by 2pm, after an initial rally that saw it gain as much as 3.5 per cent throughout the morning.
The airlines were lifted by news that British Airways and Iberia Airlines have agreed to merge. No-frills airline Ryanair was one of the key gainers of the afternoon, rising more than 4 per cent to €2.97 by 2pm. Shares in rival Aer Lingus also rose, adding 3.4 per cent to just over 59 cent.
"Bear in mind, BA & Iberia are also awaiting anti-trust clearance for their alliance with American Airlines, so truly a force across the Atlantic," said Goodbody broker Eamonn Hughes in a note.
Iberia recently announced capacity reductions in its domestic franchise to create a feeder network into Madrid to focus on its long-haul offering. "Presumably, the process continues which should see further capacity cuts at both airlines on their short haul offering. This must be manna from heaven for the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet," said Mr Hughes.
Paddy Power was also up on yesterday's prices, gaining 2 per cent to €24.90. The company announced yesterday it had signed a five year deal with French gambling brand PMU to mange the risk and pricing for PMU's online sportsbetting business.
"Apart from the financial impact of the deal there is an intangible aspect that may be considered equally important. This deal is an endorsement by the second largest gambling company in the world of Paddy Power's expertise in sportsbetting and may be considered the catalyst for future B2B deals, as more countries deregulate online gambling," Goodbody's analyst Killian Murphy said.