Iseq up slightly as Europe falls back

Despite a bullish performance through much of the session, the ISEQ closed at the lower level of its trading range during the day, as European markets fell back towards the end of the day and index-heavyweight CRH sold off in the final hour of trading.

Speculation from the US that unemployment data due tomorrow will be weaker than expected may have contributed to the sell-off according to one trader.

Nonetheless, the Irish market outperformed its European counterparts, advancing over 1 per cent on the day on reasonable volumes.

Ryanair was the star performer, gaining 4.3 per cent on the day to close at €2.94. The company released traffic statistics which showed a 15 per cent rise in passenger numbers in November. One trader also noted that the stock was "due a bounce" having traded lower in recent weeks.

Financials were strong on opening, in line with a rally in banking stocks in the UK.

After climbing steadily throughout the morning, AIB fell off at lunchtime, managing to end the day only fractionally higher at €1.59. Bank of Ireland fared better, advancing 3.5 per cent on the day, to close at €1.70.

Irish Life & Permanent had an eventful day, trading 20 per cent higher at one stage on the back of rumours of a possible takeover by AXA. It settled back by the end of the session, but still outperformed the other banking stocks to finish up 6 per cent.

Kerry Group continued its strong performance of late, adding another 5 per cent on the day, with one broker noting "a strong interest in the name."

C&C also attracted a lot of buying interest yesterday, rising over 2 per cent to €2.94, as the news of the company's acquisition of a British cider company earlier this week continued to sustain investors' interest in the stock.

London's FTSE lost 0.3 per cent to close at 5,313, after gaining 0.3 per cent yesterday.

A retreat in mining stocks offset gains in financials. Volumes were thin with investors reluctant to take big positions ahead of key US data.

In Europe, mining stocks took the most points off the index as gold prices fell.

Germany's DAX was 0.2 per cent lower. However, France's CAC 40 managed to advance 0.1 per cent to end at 3,799.

US stocks were little changed today as data showing that the vast US services sector contracted in November stoked concerns about the strength of the recovery, offsetting Bank of America's plan to repay $45 billion of government aid. At 6.15pm both the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq were up marginally, trading at 10,457 and 2,192 respectively.