The Dublin market started the week on a quiet note, mainly due to the fact that US markets are closed today for Labour Day.
Despite the intense speculation relating to Nama over the weekend, banking stocks had a pretty slow day. Volumes traded in the two main banks were low compared to recent levels. Allied Irish Banks (AIB) was more or less unchanged at just under €2.42 while Bank of Ireland was down less than 2 cent at €2.36.
Drinks manufacturer C&C was one of the most actively traded stocks on the day. The stock climbed 5 per cent - or 13 cent - to €2.73 on the back of a positive note issued by Citibank in London yesterday. "There are one or two decent buyers knocking around," one trader observed. "Investors like what they hearing."
The food and beverage sector in general was strong on the day. There was good demand around for Kerry Group, which gained almost 4 per cent, or 71 cent, to €19.30.
Aryzta traded up as high as €26.05 at one point in the session but slipped back somewhat towards the close to finish at €25.89, still a gain on the day of 1.5 per cent on the day.
The two biggest stocks in the Iseq index, CRH and Ryanair, gained 8 cent and 5 cent respectively and helped to push the overall index up one per cent to 3,066.61.