The Irish market found little inspiration from a mixed performance on international markets, but closed marginally higher with the main financial stocks once again providing the impetus. Where the market goes from here will depend on how Wall Street performs in the days ahead, but the market is well-supported at these levels.

The only real news of the day was the £30 million (€38 million) acquisition of Smurfit Paribas by Anglo Irish Bank, aided by a £25 million (€31.74 million) placing through Davy. The 13.2 million shares were placed at €2.41 (£1.90), a modest discount to the €2.54 (£2.00) price in the market.

The weekend media speculation in the UK of a Deutsche Bank bid for AIB - essentially a rehash of the rumours in the Dublin market - had little impact on the AIB share price. Trading volumes in the shares were modest compared to some of the heavy volumes of last week and they closed up 29 cents on €17.54 (£13.80).

Analysts in Frankfurt have joined those in Dublin dismissing the prospect of a Deutsche Bank bid for AIB. Deutsche is currently bedding down the $10 billion (€6.22 billion) Bankers Trust acquisition, especially as that deal involved a share issue. Bank of Ireland also rose steadily and closed up 22 cents on €20.05 (£15.78)

The two merger shares were easier with Irish Life down 36 cents on €8.90 (£7.00) while Irish Permanent lost 5 cents to €14.80 (£11.65). Executives of both groups began institutional presentations in London yesterday and are set for a series of presentations to European investors over the next week. The response to these presentations will be the major influence on the share prices in the weeks ahead.