Aer Lingus' price continues to soar

Dublin report: Day two on the Irish Stock Exchange for Aer Lingus and interest in the share was flying high. Some 48 million shares traded in Dublin alone - not quite as frantic as the 140 million that changed hands in the airline yesterday, but still pretty good considering the shares do not officially start trading on the Iseq until Monday.

The stock finished the day up 7 cent at €2.45, an increase of almost 3 per cent, with plenty of people finding there was value to be had, leading one dealer to comment that it was one of the most successful initial public offers (IPOs) in recent years.

Still in the volatile airline sector, Ryanair shed 6 cent and closed at €8.28.

Elsewhere, it was a quietish day with thin volumes. After a couple of sluggish days, there was a good bounce in drinks and snacks group C&C, which finished the day up 29 cent at €10.54, indicating that there is still good news to be had in its Magners cider brand.

Building materials group CRH, meanwhile, rose 35 cent to €26.90. Among the financials, Irish Life & Permanent had the best day, climbing 29 cent to €19.84, while Anglo Irish Bank added 10 cent to its share price to finish the day at €12.90.

Volumes in AIB and Bank of Ireland were below average, with AIB staying flat at €20.92 and Bank of Ireland dropping 3 cent to €15.39.

Tullow Oil put in a good performance on the back of stronger oil prices, rising by 23 cent to €5.57. On the IEX exchange for small companies, Irish Estates had a nice day, closing 15 cent up at €4.00.

There was reasonable volume in DCC, with half a million shares traded, although 5 cent was knocked off the share price, which closed at €19.70.

It was a bad day for IAWS, which shed 20 cent from its share price and closed at €14.50.