Irish industrial shares shook off the effects of the big fall in the FTSE and the weak opening session in New York to close sharply higher. But financial shares remain dead in the water with no sign of any improvement in sight.
A good performance by Eircom and a sharp fall by AIB meant the telecom stock knocked the Republic's biggest bank off its number one perch in the market's pecking order. Eircom was boosted by some positive comment in Davy's weekly book and bucked the international trend which saw many telecom stocks sharply weaker. It closed nine cents higher on €4.25 after hitting €4.30 in earlier trading.
The star of the day was Independent News & Media which jumped 60 cents to a new closing high of €8.40 after peaking at €8.50. The O'Reilly factor and Indo's plans for Internet business are the main factors driving the share, which is now 29 per cent above its end-1999 level. Other industrials doing well included CRH, up 38 cents to €21.88, Fyffes, up nine cents to a new closing high of €2.72 and Smurfit, up 6 1/2 cents to €3.26 1/2.
Lack of interest in the entire sector saw AIB plunge 37 cents to €10.50 and Bank of Ireland fall 17 cents to €7.60, falls that put the decision to scrap the merger and flotation of TSB/ACC in clear context.
Some of the explorers were firmer, with Bula up one cent to 11 1/4 cents and Celtic up four cents to 17 cents.
On Nasdaq, it was no surprise that Baltimore went into orbit after the huge gains in London on Monday, and the shares were trading almost $24 higher on $116 as the Irish market closed. Trintech, Iona and Smartforce - the last after good results - were also in demand and trading higher.
