The Iseq index of Irish shares was up over three per cent near the end of trading today.
Recording an increase of 3.13 per cent by 15.45 today, the index saw a 182.89 point increase to sit at 6022.57.
CRH Plc, which earlier announced a 50 per cent buyout of Indian cement firm My Home Industries for €290 million, saw a 2.06 per cent drop in value with its shares dropping 0.49 cent to 23.41.
Troubled bathroom suite maker Qualceram Shiressaw its greatest improvement in share price in the last five years after it revealed an approach from a third party interested in buying the company. Qualceram shares were up 2.04 per cent at €1 per share at 15.45am.
Anglo Irish Bank, which has been the victim of both rumours and shorting in recent days, clawed back earlier losses with a 4.28 per cent growth in share value or an increase of 0.30 cent to €7.20.
Bank of Irelandsaw a 6.09 per cent increase with its share value increasing by 0.55 cent to reach €9.49.
Independent News & Mediawhich saw some 14 million shares traded yesterday when it lost 5.7 per cent fell 1.61 per cent today, the equivalent of a 0.03 cent fall to 1.66 per share.
It was revealed earlier that billionaire investor Denis O'Brien increased his stake in Independent News & Media Plc to 21.2 per cent, bringing him closer to the 25 per cent threshold at which he can block certain resolutions put to shareholders.
The Irish stock market will close today for a four-day Easter break and will resume trading on Tuesday.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.5 per cent.
Miners were the worst hit as metal prices fell, with gold down more than 4 percent to a one-month low as investors took profits in the face of the rising dollar.
The UK benchmark index has lost more than 14 per cent this quarter, on course for its worst three-monthly loss since the third quarter of 2002.
Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both fell 0.5 per cent.
Share prices were up on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 112.43, or 0.9 per cent, to 12,212.09 in morning trading.
Earlier, Asian markets tumbled after overnight losses on Wall Street and amid persistent worry over the likely impact of a US recession.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell as much as 4.4 per cent in morning trade, while on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.5 percent to 3,516.33 - its lowest level since June.
Both indexes later came off their early lows. Near midday the Hang Seng was at 21,158.8, down 3.2 per cent. The Shanghai index finished its morning session at 3,644.9, down 3.1 per cent.
Markets also fell in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand. Financial markets were closed in Japan and India for national holidays.