European stocks higher

European shares were higher on Tuesday afternoon, as strong demand for Irish and Spanish government debt offset jitters over the region's fiscal health after Moody's downgraded Greece's debt rating to junk status.

Shares in BSkyB surged 19 per cent on expectations its biggest shareholder News Corp, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, would raise its offer for the 61 per cent of the British pay-TV company it does not already own.

Concerns over euro zone debt partly eased after a Spanish bill auction while, in Dublin, the NTMA's bond sale drew strong demand.

Banks were among the biggest gainers, with Barclays, UBS, Banco Santander, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank up 0.6-1.9 percent.

In Dublin, the ISEQ was up 23.22 points at 3,079.78 at 2.15 pm

AIB and Irish Life and Permanent were both trading higher. AIB was up 1.7 per cent at almost 96 cent while Irish Life and Permanent continued to see an improved performance by its share price which has been suffering of late, climbing 2. 5 per cent to €1.68.

After seeing a surge in buying activity yesterday, as a result of the stock moving from the MSCI Small Cap Index to the MSCI Standard Index at the close of business yesterday, Bank of Ireland was down more than 4 per cent at 83 cent.

Elan Pharmaceuticals was trading almost 5.5 per cent higher at €4.16, while construction stocks were also in positive territory, with building giant CRH up 1.6 per cent at €19.30 and Grafton up almost 1 per cent at €3.79.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: REUTERS