"A better day all round" was how one trader described today's session, as the Dublin market ended the day comfortably in the black, buoyed by the outcome of the Irish bond auction.
Dublin's performance was in line with stock markets across Europe which all ended the day in positive territory as the solid demand for European bond auctions eased worries about Europe's sovereign debt problems.
In Dublin, banking stocks led the way, with both AIB and Bank of Ireland jumping 5.5 per cent as funding concerns eased, reversing the steep falls sustained in the previous session, when AIB hit its lowest close for six weeks. In terms of volumes, Bank of Ireland continued to attract a greater level of attention than AIB. Irish Life & Permanent added 1.5 per cent to €1.68.
CRH, which is due to publish interim results next week, was the other main mover. Having been trading around its book value of late on the back of a steam of negative results and data from the US, the stock saw some improvement yesterday, adding 2.5 per cent to close at €15.11. The rise was in line with the sector which received a boost from better than expected second quarter results from peer company Wienerberger.
Elsewhere on the index most stocks ended the day in positive territory. Aer Lingus had a very strong day, adding 9 per cent or 8 cent to close at €0.95, while Ryanair rose 1.7 per cent to close at €3.82, helped by news in the UK of an agreement between BAA and trade unions.
Drinks company C&C added a half a per cent, as peer company Carlsberg reported strong first half results, though this was on very light volumes. Kerry Group lost 8 cent on the day to close at €24.62, though Aryzta regained some of the ground lost over the last few days on the back of concerns over rising input costs, to finish at €32.00.
