Late rally sees Iseq in positive territory

A late rally by European stock markets following news that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had resigned resulted in a strong end to the week for global stock markets which ended the week in the black.

The trajectory of the Dublin market mirrored market trends further afield, with the result that the Iseq finished up just over 1 per cent higher at 2,972. Virtually all of the main names finished in positive territory.

Smurfit Kappa continued to be the focus of investor attention, bringing to a close a strong week for the packaging giant, which announced details of a 25 million share placing on Thursday.

It was one of the most actively traded names today. While it did not repeat the strong gains of the previous session, it finished up fractionally higher at just over €9.00.

Despite Moody's downgrading of unguaranteed senior unsecured Irish bank debt, financial stocks performed well, having put in a weak performance on Thursday.

Bank of Ireland, which was one of the most active stocks, climbed almost 7 per cent to €0.38. AIB added 4 per cent to €0.28, while Irish Life and Permanent, which announced details of a mortgage interest rate increase on Thursday, also added 4 per cent to €0.97.

Elsewhere, the exchange's two airline stocks made gains, as oil prices fell as concern about Egypt subsided. Ryanair added 0.6 per cent to €3.63 while Aer Lingus rose 1.7 per cent to just under €1.04.

CRH was well-bid, gaining 20 cent, or 1.2 per cent to finish the week at €16.69.

There was significant investor interest in exploration company Petroceltic. The ESM-listed stock climbed 9.7 per cent to close at €0.17.

Paddy Power was one of the few names to lose ground , despite winning regulatory approval in Australia in relation to its purchase of the outstanding minority shareholdings in Sportsbet. It shed 0.5 per cent to €29.55.