Iseq: 4,932.56 (+42.26) Settlement date: July 8thAFTER AN early-morning battering that saw almost 1 per cent knocked off the value of Irish shares, the Dublin market rallied in the afternoon in line with key European markets.

The catalyst for the turnaround was comments by European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet. He said he had no bias towards further rate rises after the bank raised its benchmark lending rate to 4.25 per cent yesterday.

Having priced in more rate rises, markets reacted positively, and Ireland was no exception.

Despite some selling off near the end of the day, the market still managed to close almost 1 per cent stronger at 4,932.56.

The turnaround was led by the two big banks, which rallied following Mr Trichet's comments. AIB advanced 17 cent to €9.58, while Bank of Ireland was almost 3 per cent better off as it added on 15 cent to close at €5.48.

Irish Life Permanent, however, eased back a little, shedding 1.9 cent to €6.051, with Anglo Irish Bank finishing down almost half of 1 per cent at €5.668.

Having traded down 8 per cent at one stage, market heavyweight CRH staged a remarkable comeback to close up more than 3.5 per cent at €15.66 in volatile trading.

DCC also enjoyed a good day, picking up 65 cent to €15.

Several food stocks also did well, with Kerry advancing 13 cent to €17.93 and Greencore tacking on three cent to €1.85.

The spike in oil prices to record levels hit Ryanair in early-morning trading, but as oil came of its highs, the stock rallied, eventually ending the day three cent stronger at €2.54.

Despite yesterday afternoon's rally, the market is still off more than 5 per cent from the start of business on Monday and, by the close of business yesterday, the Iseq remained below the 5,000 barrier, which it breached earlier in the week.