Iseq follows European trend to close up 3.24%

Iseq:2,520.31 (+78.98) Settlement date:September 30th

MARKETS ACROSS Europe were upbeat yesterday, seemingly because of a belief that European Union politicians were going to finally confront the banking and debt crisis.

The Irish market rose along with its continental neighbours, although not quite to the same extent. The Iseq finished the day up 3.24 per cent whereas other European indicators were north of four.

One trader speculated that the wind behind European shares might have as much to do with asset rotation by pension funds between fixed-income investments and equities, as it had to do with a belief that the euro crisis was going to be resolved any time soon.

However financial stocks performed well on the day, traders observed, including French banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

Materials group CRH was among the Irish stocks to do best yesterday, finishing at €11.65, a rise of 5.91 per cent.

Other stocks that did well on the day included Kenmare, which rose by 7.37 per cent to close at €0.46, and Greencore, which ended the day up 5.81 per cent, closing at €0.62.

Irish financials is not longer a category in an Irish markets report. Bank of Ireland closed at 7.5 cent, a rise of 2.74 per cent.

Elan closed at €7.8, a rise of 5.4 per cent on the day.

Budget airline Ryanair, which has its annual general meeting in Dublin tomorrow, performed strongly in early trading, rising to €3.33, and finished at close of trade at €3.28, a rise of 0.92 per cent.

Aer Lingus, which is having an investor day in London today, rose 0.78 per cent, to close at €0.64.

Stocks that fell in price, despite the mood across Europe, included IFG Group, Independent News Media and CC Group.