BOTH Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland reached new all-time highs in trading on the Dublin exchange yesterday, on a day when the market was described as firm but thin.
AIB shares finished at 381.5p, up 5.5p on their previous close while Bank of Ireland closed up 6p at 516p.
Dealers attributed their strong performance to several factors, including the continuing housing boom and a strong global demand for bank shares, but chiefly to sterling's strength and the Dow Jones surge.
"There was good interest in all the leading stocks," said one dealer, "and a shortage of offers pushed the leaders up a bit."
Irish Permanent gained 4p to end trade at 462p.
CRH performed very well, gaining 7p on the day to close at 632p.
Smurfit gained 1p to close at 169p.
Jurys, which announced on Wednesday that it was planning to build two new economy inns costing £17.4 million, saw its share price rise 2p to 268p.
Arnotts traded down 5p on Wednesday's close, finishing at 420p.
Dunloe gained 1p on the day to finish at 25p.
IWP was unchanged at 250p.
Independent Newspapers was also unchanged at 325p. Independent Press Communications, the Independent Newspapers subsidiary, has raised its stake in New Zealand publisher Wilson and Horton to 12.16 per cent from 9.76 per cent. IPCL is bidding for all of W & H, offering $11 or 1.375 exchangeable INP shares for each W & H share.
Jones traded 10p down on its previous price at 145p.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the market continuing to strengthen," remarked one dealer. "We should see further buying interest in the market when it opens again."
