Bank of Ireland shares have continued to recover following the breakdown of merger talks with Alliance & Leicester. They rose 40 cents yesterday to €18.10, with management launching a roadshow talking to big investors following the collapse of the merger. Market sources also said that hopes of a share buyback were buoying the stock. The shares are still some way short of the €18.60 level, reached just before the merger was announced.

Meanwhile AIB shares, which slipped last week on news of its likely exclusion for a revamped Eurostoxx, gained 36 cents to €13.60, with market analysts arguing that the shares now represented good value at current levels.