Positive sentiment continued to flow in AIB on foot of its venture into Singapore through acquiring a £660 million (€838.03) stake in Keppel Tat Lee Bank. AIB rose 43 cents or 3.3 per cent yesterday, to close at €13.30 (£10.47) against the backdrop of a strong opening on Wall Street.

One dealer said the response to the structure of the Far Eastern deal had been positive. It was being viewed as a good banking investment in a good banking environment.

Anglo Irish was also buoyed up, adding 7 cents to close at €2.70 (£2.13), but the other financials were down, led by Bank of Ireland, which continued its decline because of the view taken over the proposed structure of its deal with Alliance & Leicester. It was down 12 cents to €17.05 (£13.43) on a see-saw day which had it reaching an intra-day high of €17.39 (£13.70).

Irish Life & Permanent was down 30 cents to €11.80 (£9.29) and Hibernian eased back 5 cents to €7.70 (£6.06)

CRH, out of favour in recent weeks, provided the other focus for the buying interest which had the index rise by 0.9 per cent. CRH rose 60 cents to €17.85 (£14.06) on top of Wednesday's 80 cents rise as investors saw value in the building materials stock again. Elan rose by €1.48 to €52.45 (£41.31). Smurfit, meanwhile, eased back 4 cents to €2.38 (£1.87) but Glanbia consolidated on its recovery following the profit warning earlier this week, nudging up 5 cents to €1.25 (98p).

Other food stocks had a mixed day, with Golden Vale rising 3 cents to €1.09 (86p), Kerry back 5 cents to €11.90 (£9.37) and IAWS holding at €3.80 (£2.99). IWP's results were received positively, according to one dealer, but the failed to excite the share price which was unchanged at €2.25 (£1.77).