Intense demand for Telecom Eireann shares, after the company was admitted to the key MSCI stock index, drove the shares ahead strongly in late trading on both the Dublin and London markets.
Telecom closed on €5.00 (£3.94) in both Dublin and London, a rise of more than 15 cents. Brokers estimated that possibly as much as 50 million shares traded yesterday, with the bulk of the trading coming in the final hour after it was disclosed that Telecom had joined the MSCI index - an index of international shares compiled by Morgan Stanley.
At yesterday's close, the shares were up more than 28 per cent on the €3.90 (£3.07) flotation price and Telecom is within striking distance - less than €200 million - of displacing AIB as the biggest company on the Irish stock market.
More than 32 million shares traded in London where the shares hit a high of €5.03 (£3.96) before they closed on €5.00 (£3.94) and brokers in Dublin said that while it is difficult to put an exact figure on the volume of trading as stock flowed between the Dublin and London markets, up to 20 million shares may have changed hands in Dublin.
There were mixed views among Dublin brokers as to where Telecom shares will go from here, with some believing that last night's close of €5.00 might trigger a greater level of private client selling as investors, who have so far refrained from selling, try and lock in gains of around 28 per cent.
