A strong performance by financial stocks saw the Iseq advance 63 points, a gain of 1.4 per cent, to 4,443.7 by 1pm.
Irish Life & Permanent was the star performer as it built on yesterday's sharp gains. By 1pm its share price was more than 6 per cent stronger as it gained 35.7 cent to €6.273. Bank of Ireland also put in a credible performance in morning trading, tacking on 29 cent to €5.50, while AIB advanced 30 cent to €8.45. Anglo Irish was marginally up, as it added 3.2 cent to €5.75.
Among companies reporting interim results, Elan gave up the gains it made in early morning trading after it said it had narrowed it first half loss on the back of a strong rise in sales for its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. Net loss for the first six months stood at $159.4 million compared to $282.6 million fro the same period last year. By 1pm it had shed 5 cent to €9.30.
Aer Lingus clawed back some of the losses it made in the opening hours when it was nearly 4 per cent weaker after it posted an operating loss of €22.3 million for the first six months of 2008, down from an operating profit of €2.6 million last year, on the back of a huge spike in fuel costs. However, it was still 2.3 per cent weaker at €1.39 in the early afternoon.
But poor results saw McInerney's share price plummet as it reported an operating loss before tax and exceptional items of €22.1 million for the first six months of 2008 due to the downturn in the housing market. The homebuilder also revealed that it had total writedowns of €27.6 million in relation to its land book and incurred an exceptional charge of €4 million as part of a cost rationalisation programme. It was one of the poorest performing stocks, with its share price losing more than a quarter of its value as it shed 10 cent to €0.28.