SHARES on the Dublin market enjoyed a late surge, buoyed by strong pre-Christmas rallies in London and New York. In thin trading, the leading stocks took up most of the running, with most notching up good gains by close of business.
AIB was in demand, rising 2p to 385p on the day. Bank of Ireland also managed to move strongly ahead, adding 51/2p to 5231/1p.
CRH also fared well, trading up 51/2p to 600p while Smurfit went a penny down to 167p.
Other stocks on the move were Adare, up 5p to 565p, Clondalkin added 7p to 465p while DCC gained 1p to 2601/2p. Stocks in the food sector remained unchanged with Fyffes holding 107p, Golden Vale ate 641/2p, Kerry started at 595p and Waterford Foods continued trading at 88p. Greencore, however, managed to gain some ground, adding a penny to 373p.
Irish Life made further gains on the back of its £163 million acquisition in the US announced on Thursday. Yesterday it went 3p better to 274p. Irish Permanent was unchanged at 485p.
IAWS also had a good run, trading up 7p on the day to close at 163p, while IFG added 3p to 35p. The gilt market looked stronger on the back of a continued good run in US treasury bonds. The 6.5 per cent bond due in 2001 had gained 17p to £101.52 to yield 6.03 per cent while the 8 per cent bond due in 2001 firmed 15p to £107.45 to yield 7.72 per cent.
