Market report: The Irish stock market surged by 1 per cent yesterday, lifted by a strong performance from financial stocks and a relief rally on Wall Street after Hurricane Rita caused less damage than expected.

Banking stocks led the charge as AIB added 41 cent, or 2.4 per cent, to €17.74 and Bank of Ireland gained 22 cent, or 1.7 per cent to €12.95 ahead of its preclose trading statement today. Investors will be looking for an update on the performance of the company's asset management business, the progress of its restructuring plan as well as a report on the Post Office joint venture in the UK.

Anglo Irish Bank also benefited from the positive sentiment toward the banking sector, which was helped in part by speculation about further merger and acquisition activity in Europe, as it added 27 cent or nearly 2.5 per cent to €11.22.

CRH also had a good day, adding 15 cent to €22.30 as one of its peers, Wolseley, posted a 16 per cent rise in annual profits and forecast higher US sales.

Grafton failed to benefit from the British group's results, however, shedding six cent to €8.60. Ryanair added 12 cent, or 1.8 per cent, to €6.75, lifted by news that Boeing had settled a dispute with its workers that could have delayed delivery of aircraft.

Despite reporting a 13 per cent rise in full-year earnings, shares in IAWS shed five cent to €11.40.

Irish Continental Group lost 10 cent, or 1 per cent, to €9.70 as the company remained bogged down in a dispute with workers over a redundancy package. Shares in financial services group IFG added two cent, or 1.5 per cent, to €1.33 ahead of the release of half-year results later this week. Trading in Jurys Doyle was quiet ahead of today's extraordinary meeting with just 88,000 shares traded as the stock shed 25 cent to €18.55.

In the exploration sector, shares in Dragon shed nine cent, or 3.3 per cent, to €2.63 despite reporting a more than fourfold increase in first-half operating profit.

Settlement Date: September 29th