Unprecedented demand for Government gilt-edged stock and the major financial shares drove the Irish markets to unprecedented levels yesterday, with nearly £1.5 billion added to the overall value of the market and over £800 million added to the value of the financial stocks on the market.

Dealers believe that it will be difficult for the market to maintain yesterday's momentum but, barring a sudden reverse on Wall Street, share prices are likely to remain firm today.

The vast bulk of yesterday's trading was concentrated on the two major banking stocks, and notched up a notable milestone when it broke through the £6 billion market capitalisation barrier. It may not be long before Bank of Ireland joins AIB in the £6 billion club with another 22p on the Bank share price all that is required.

In heavy trading, Bank of Ireland dealt up 60p to a new high of £11.50, while AIB was 54p higher on 732p as both banks responded to the surge in bond prices in North America and Europe.

Smaller financials also benefited and Anglo Irish was 2p higher on 141p, Irish Life hit a new high a 8p gain to 408p, while Irish Permanent was 15p stronger on 760p.

Industrial shares were also stronger but traded in much lower volumes than the two main banks. CRH led the charge with a 27p rise to 847p while Smurfit closed up 7p on 203p. Second-line industrials were generally firmer with Clondalkin up 2p on 570p, Fyffes up 5p to 111p, Greencore up 7p to 337p and Independent up 15p to 400p. Kerry was 9p stronger on 760p while Ryanair gained 7p to 340p despite the prospect of a baggage-handlers' strike.

Gilt prices hit record levels in response to the gains in New York and Frankfurt and closed with the bigger gains being recorded further out on the curve. At the close, the yield on the 2001 benchmark stock was 4.84 per cent (from 4.95 per cent on Friday), the 2008 stock was yielding 5.40 per cent (5.47 per cent) while the 2015 long gilt was on a 5.65 per cent yield from 5.71 per cent. The differential against German bunds widened fractionally as the Irish market marginally underperformed the international gains.