ISEQ:The Iseq index of Irish shares was lifted back up towards the key 3,000 resistance level today, closing up 1.6 per cent at a shade under 2,981.

Bank of Ireland put in one of the strongest performances of the day, as banks across the globe generally went a little better. The lender gained more than 5 per cent, just over four cent, to close at 87 cent.

The Iseq’s biggest component, CRH, also helped to lift the market. The building materials giant jumped 2.5 per cent, or 40 cent, to €16.39, after the latest Ulster Bank construction purchasing managers’ index showed that the pace of decline in Irish construction activity continued to ease in July.

There was very little red ink on the market today, as the vast majority of stocks finished the session in better shape.

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa notched up a gain of 2.4 per cent, about 19 cent, in advance of reporting its quarter two earnings on Wednesday. The stock closed at just under €8.23.

In the airline sector, Aer Lingus was little altered at 98 cent after announcing that it carried 1.02 million passengers in July, which represents an 8.7 per cent year-on-year fall in traffic.

Rival carrier Ryanair broke through the €4.00 mark at one point during today’s session, but retreated somewhat to close back under €3.96.

Amongst the minnow stocks, oil and exploration company Dragon Oil fared well after releasing a strong set of interim results. The stock finished at just under €5.47, up 1.3 per cent.

Other winners on the day included Paddy Power, which added almost 2 per cent to close just below €28.44, and drug manufacturer Elan which rose about 5.5 per cent to almost €4.05.

Overall, volumes across Europe were “very, very quiet”, a Dublin broker said.

Across Europe, the FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 rose 1.5 to 1.7 per cent.

Additional reporting - Reuters