Financials rise on back of Government bond auction

DUBLIN REPORT:Iseq: 2,750.10 (+15.89) Settlement date:September 24th

ON A day when all eyes were on Ireland and the much-anticipated Government bond auction, the Dublin market rallied as the Government succeeded in raising €1.5 billion of debt, although at a higher interest rate than in the previous month.

The Iseq added a half of 1 per cent, outperforming its European peers as the positive outcome of debt sales by Ireland, Spain and Greece was overshadowed by disappointing forecasts from Deutsche Bank.

In Dublin, financials were immediately up on the back of the results of the bond auction. While the stocks did not manage to hold all the gains, Bank of Ireland and AIB did finish in positive territory.

Bank of Ireland closed up marginally at €0.65, while AIB added 3.3 per cent to finish at €0.63, amid new speculation that the sale of its stake in MT is imminent.

Irish Life Permanent dipped towards the close for no particular reason, according to traders, losing a relatively significant 3 per cent or five cent to finish at €1.56.

Elsewhere, there was little stock-specific news-flow to move markets, with analysts noting that economic rather than company-specific events continued to shape the Iseq. Volumes were light.

Origin was up almost 4 per cent at €2.80 ahead of results today.

Volumes in Ryanair were strong ahead of its AGM and trading update this morning. The stock, which went ex-dividend last week, added five cent or just over 1 per cent to finish at €3.89.

Fellow airline stock Aer Lingus also put in a strong performance yesterday, breaking through the significant €1 mark to finish at €1.02, a gain of 2 cent.

Smurfit Kappa continued to weaken, shedding six cent yesterday to €7.34, amid weak sector news from the US. Pharmaceuticals giant Elan was one of the best performers, adding 5.5 per cent to close at €3.92.