With the London market reacting ecstatically to the Financial Times report of an early entry of sterling to EMU, share prices in Dublin soared with the financial sector closing up over 3 per cent. A almost total absence of offers restricted the volume of shares traded, and in many cases, it was a question of the market being bid up to match the rise in London.
The main financial shares were in huge demand and all closed up on the day. Bank of Ireland enjoyed the biggest rise and closed up 28p on 840p having hit 845p in earlier trading. AIB closed up 20p on 610p while Irish Life - increasingly seen as a leading candidate to bid for New Ireland - was 13p higher on 360p.
Irish Permanent and Anglo Irish - two stocks likely to gain from an influx of cash from the Woodchester and New Ireland buyouts - were also higher with Irish Permanent closing 7p higher on 635p while Anglo Irish reached a new high with a 1p rise to 104p.
Among the industrials, CRH rose in line with the British sector and gained 29p to 764p. Smurfit - which tends to track Wall Street more than London - was 3p higher on 230p.
Eleswhere, Kerry gained another 10p to 760p while Fyffes was 3p higher on 95p as the EU conceded to the WTO on the European banana regime.
