The Irish index of shares was marginally up this afternoon, as stocks throughout Europe bounced back in the wake of concerns over Dubai debt.
By 2pm, the Iseq was up 25.23 points to 2,832.82, lifted by rises in stocks such as C&C, DCC and Kerry Group.
C&C added just over 1 per cent in today's trading, to rise to €2.83. The company yesterday announced it would buy British cider business The Gaymer Cider Company for £45 million (€50 million), increasing its strength in the UK market. The company has also recived approval for its acquisition of Tennents.
Shares in DCC rose 3.8 per cent to €18.66, a climb of 70 cent, while CRH gained 2.6 per cent to trade at €17.23. Kerry Group added 2.5 per cent to €20.24.
Financial stocks were once again mixed. Although Bank of Ireland was marginally up at €1.61, a 0.4 per cent rise, shares in AIB and Irish Life and permanent were down.
AIB was off 4 per cent at €1.48, following the news that the Euoropean Commission had asked the bank to suspend payments on some securities while it examined the bank's restructuring plan.
Traders said the move did not come as surprise, citing precedence among other European banks that had already received state aid, such as Lloyds. The EU's indication that it was open to negotiation on the preference share conversion was also noted by the market.
The news comes only a day after Central Bank statistics showed private sector credit was down 3.7 per cent.
European stocks bounced back on Tuesday, boosted by banks and commodity shares, as encouraging economic data and easing concerns over Dubai's debt problems prompted investors to increase their exposure to equities.
At 1210 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 2.1 percent at 1,005.84 points after rising as
high as 1,006.00 earlier in the session. The index slipped 1.4 percent in the previous session on Dubai concerns.
Efforts by Dubai World to restructure about $26 billion in debt out of the estimated $59 billion it owes reassured investors that the emirate's debt problems can be contained.
Dubai World, the government-controlled conglomerate that led the transformation of Dubai into a regional hub for finance, investment and tourism, unveiled details of a restructuring plan late on Monday that would cover debt owed by its main property firms, Nakheel and Limitless.
Financials were among the biggest gainers, with the DJ STOXX banking index climbing 2.3 per cent. Standard Chartered,
HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Natixis, UBS and KBC Groep jumped 1.4 to 7.1 per cent.