The ISEQ index lagged behind its European peers today, finishing more or less flat after being weighed down by a weak Ryanair.
The airline dropped almost 3 per cent, or 11 cent, to close at €3.66, after touching €3.83 earlier in the day. The volume of Ryanair shares changing hands today wasn’t as high as in recent sessions, but some sellers joined in the afternoon, putting it under pressure.
Allied Irish Banks, which jumped more than 10 per cent on Friday on the back of speculation over the sale of its stake in US bank M&T, spiked to €1.22 at one point today. However for most of the session, the bank traded around the €1.17 mark, and finished the day a fraction lower at €1.11.
Bank of Ireland also fluctuated over the course of the day. By the closing bell it had nudged ahead slightly to 85 cent.
Irish Life & Permanent forged ahead in the morning session, trading as high as €1.95, but it finished on a low close of just under €1.81.
Outside the financial sector, Smurfit Kappa, which is carrying out an investor roadshow at the moment, had a great run. The packaging giant gained almost 4 per cent, or 29 cent, bringing it to €7.80.
Despite the fine weather, cider manufacturer C&C weakened a little, shedding more than 1 per cent, or about 4 cent, to €3.28.
Elsewhere, Independent News & Media notched up another strong performance on good volume. The stock gained more than 1 per cent to close at 88 cent.
Elan was another winner on the day. The biotechnology company climbed almost 3.5 per cent, almost 14 cent, to just under €3.84.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained between 0.9 and 1.3 per cent.
Additional reporting: Reuters