THE strong early performance on Wall Street failed to stir the Irish market out of its start of year torpor, with most of the activity involving private investors do some early stock picking. Turn over was low, with the only size being in Irish Life where dealers estimated that up to 400,000 shares traded.
The best performer on a dull day was AIB, which rose 5p to 344p, while Bank of Ireland was 1p easier on 454p. Anglo Irish Bank was 1p higher on 62p after announcing late last week the acquisition of private banker, Ansbacher. Irish Life initially dealt up to 239p before closing up 1/2p on the day on 237 1/2p.
Industrials were becalmed, with Smurfit unchanged on 149p despite some modest improvement on Wall Street by JS Corp. Fyffes eased 2p to 108p, despite the generally positive response to the Geest deal, while CRH was Map lower on 469 1/4p.
Gilts were influenced by a variety of external factors which impacted international bond markets, particularly British money supply figures and the US purchasing managers index.
Dealers said that the British gilt market held back progress in Dublin, although there were signs of funds flowing out of Scandinavian and British markets into Irish 10 year stocks.
The main focus today will be on the exchequer borrowing figures and particularly the extent of the EBR undershoot. The market is expecting the EBR to come in well under the budget target of £813 million, with some economists suggesting an EBR as low as £760 million. Thursday's Central Bank statistics will also be watched closely, particularly the lending growth figures.
