Financial stocks were back in favour in Dublin yesterday, with AIB and Bank of Ireland both recovering ground.

The two main banks, which have taken a battering recently, managed to shrug off their woes. AIB, which saw its share price nosedive after indications that it might be excluded from the benchmark Dow Jones Eurostoxx-50 index, managed to stage a tentative recovery. The shares increased from €12.80 (£10.08) to €13.24 (£10.42), with dealers predicting that it should manage to hold its own around these levels. Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland's shares began to move in the right direction in the wake of the collapse of merger talks with Alliance & Leicester. Dealers reported good two-way interest in the shares yesterday, with overseas buyers seeking to buy the stock at its current depressed levels. Bank of Ireland shares gained 37 cents to close at €17.70 (£13.93). Some analysts suggest the shares will be able to recover to trade at around €18.60 (£14.64), where they stood before the merger talks were announced three weeks ago.

The other major mover on the day was Elan. Its shares rose from €24.92 (£19.62) to €26.40 (£20.79) and also improved in New York. It is recovering from investor concerns about the drug manufacturer's product pipeline. CRH also went ahead on good demand, with the shares rising from €17.70 (£13.93) to €17.85 (£14.05).

The global switch out of cyclical stocks and into growth stocks this week, on the back of good economic figures in the US, hindered Smurfit's progress. On the day, it dropped by seven cents to close at €2.60 (£2.04) and is likely to remain under pressure.

Second-line stocks remained in the doldrums, with those changing hands turning weaker.