Banks stage slight Iseq comeback

The Dublin market finished the session slightly under in line with European markets which dropped for a fifth successive day.

The Iseq index closed at 2819.34 down 1.34 points.

Ryanair was the main talking point, after the budget airline bet analysts' expectations posting strong first quarter results despite the effects of the volcanic ash cloud. Some 9 million Ryanair shares were traded.

After hitting highs of over €3.93 on a very strong opening, the stock drifted back towards the end of the day in line with the general direction of the market, to close 1.35 per cent higher at €3.83.

After sustaining losses in yesterday's session following the discount on the second tranche of loans going to NAMA was revealed to be greater than expected, financials made something of a comeback today.

All the action continued to centre on Bank of Ireland, however. Close to 22 million Bank of Ireland shares were traded in Dublin. The stock closed almost 6 per cent higher at €0.70 though it had been trading around the €0.63 mark earlier in the day.

In contrast, well under a million AIB shares were traded. The stock advanced 1 per cent on the day to close at €0.86, though traders stressed the lack of investor interest in the stock.

Irish Life and Permanent shed just under 1 per cent to finish at €1.57, though volumes were very light.

Construction related stocks all ended the day in red, on the back of disappointing UK mortgage start figures and peer results.

Index heavyweight CRH shed close to 1 per cent or 3 cent to finish at €2.67. Insulation group Kingspan fell as low as €5.15 following a downgrade by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

It gained ground somewhat during the day to finish at €5.50, a fall of €1.34 per cent. Grafton finished off 1 per cent at €2.67, though it too staged a recovery during the session having traded down around 4 per cent during the first half of the day.