Further strong demand for Bank of Ireland in the wake of the £600 million takeover of Bristol & West and for CRH due to a sector re-rating drove the Irish market to another all time high. By the close, the market was within striking distance of an ISEQ of 2500 and a market capitalisation of £18 billion.
The 38 point rise in the FTSE to another new high and the firmer opening on Wall Street underpinned the Irish market, but most of the action in Dublin was stock specific and focused on Bank of Ireland and CRH.
Bank of Ireland dealt in lower volumes than on Monday but still closed up 10p on 450p while CRH moved ahead 6p to a new high of 577p.
NCB is extremely bullish about CRH and a research note issued yesterday said that 600p is a reasonable target for the shares based on the favourable sentiment towards the British sector and CRH's above average acquisition potential.
CRH is currently trading on a prospective price/earnings ratio of 13.8 slightly below the British sector average of 14.3.
Elsewhere, AIB added 2p to 328p but its under performance against Bank of Ireland in the past two days means the capitalisation gap between the two stocks is now less than £50 million and AIB's much cherished position as the market's number one company is coming under threat.
Among the industrials, the JS Corp first quarter results were in line with forecasts and the current trading comments were no more negative than had been expected. JS Corp shares gained 75 cents in early trading in New York to $11 while, in Dublin, Smurflt dealt steadily and gained 1p to 165p.
Among the goods, Kerry jumped 13p to a new high of 570p while Fyffes jumped 2p to 113p. Gerry McGuinness's latest bout of selling did not prevent Independent adding 5p to 515p while Green gained 5p to 235p.
Gilts also had an excellent day with strong demand from overseas investors for stock.
This allowed the NTMA to go into the market for the second successive day and tap £100 million of the 10 year gilt after the £100 million tap of the five year on Monday.
The 10 year tap was quickly swallowed by the market.
