In the volatile international equity markets, there has been a bit of a scramble to buy major blue-chip stocks, such as Coca Cola, Unilever and Shell. These companies, which are recognised as leaders in their sectors offer stability for investors, and as most have a market capitalisation which is larger than the entire Irish market, they are also highly liquid.

Coca Cola is enjoying favourable forecasts from brokers, and is expected to perform strongly again in 1998. Unilever, which recently launched a bid for Lyons Irish Holdings is also seen as a safe haven in troubled times. And despite the troubles in the Far East, HSBC continues to be very highly regarded.

The bank, which is the biggest in Japan, has recently felt the impact of the difficulties in its home market, and has been trading at more than 30 per cent below its high for 1997. But market sentiment has improved with most taking the view that it has suffered unduly of late. HSBC earns most of its Asian revenues from Hong Kong rather than the smaller and more vulnerable markets in the region and generates about one third of its total earnings in Britain.