The Iseq index rose today as strong performance from the financial stocks outweighed this morning's bad news from Greencore.
The index was up 165 points at 1.30pm, despite Greencore slumping after it announced it was restating profits for the fiscal years 2006 and 2007 following the discovery of hidden costs at one of its units.
At 10.30 am, Greencore shares had lost 18.5 per cent, but towards the middle of the day, the stocks gained almost 6 per cent back to 12.2 per cent, at €2.155 per share.
The financial stocks buoyed the index, with Anglo Irish climbing more than 4 per cent to €6.90, and AIB and Bank of Ireland up by more than 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Construction firms were also up in early afternoon trading, with CRH rising 3 per cent to €18.27, and Grafton and Kingspan both gaining.
Iona Technologies saw its stock surge on the news that it was to be bought by Progress Software in a deal valued at €162 million.
Meanwhile, European stocks jumped today, halting a slide in Asian shares as Barclays announced a £4.5 billion share issue, boosting other banking shares hours before a closely watched policy decision by the Federal Reserve.
The dollar edged higher against major currencies, having fallen yesterday on weak US consumer confidence and housing data, while oil prices rose above $137 a barrel.
Signs that the world's major banks are clearing up their troubles from the credit crisis and raising new capital come at a time when the global economy faces the threat of rising prices from surging oil and commodity prices.
That has cemented market expectations that the Federal Reserve would keep its benchmark interest rates on hold at 2.0 per cent later today, ending a string of cuts since last year to bolster the slowing economy.
However, analysts doubt the Fed would embark on a series of aggressive interest rate hikes given still soft signs from the US economy.
"The spotlight will definitely be on the Fed's statement. With the US economic situation - just look at yesterday's dismal consumer confidence data - I don't see how they could signal a tightening bias," said Valerie Plagnol, chief strategist at CM-CIC Securities in Paris.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.7 per cent while MSCI main world equity index erased early losses to stand up 0.1 per cent on the day.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average ended 0.1 per cent lower, its fifth day of losses, with exporters such as Toyota Motor and Sony hit by the weak outlook for the key US market.
The Nikkei's fifth straight negative day - its worst losing streak this year - also saw property developers suffer after real estate firm Suruga said it had filed for court protection from creditors.
The benchmark Nikkei shed 19.64 points to 13,829.92, with bargain hunting helping to boost the average from a six-week intraday low hit during the morning session. The broader Topix lost 0.2 per cent to 1,346.08.
The MSCI index of stocks in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan was down 0.1 per cent at a three-month low. The pan-Asia index was off 0.2 per cent at its lowest since March.
Additional reporting: Reuters