The Irish market was up this afternoon, mirroring a Europe-wide trend as positive economic data from the US lifted markets around the the world.
Data released this afternoon showed sales at US retailers rose at their fastest pace in three-and-half years in August, at 2.7 per cent, boosting stocks.
At 2.47pm, the Iseq was up more than 42 points, supported in part by strong interest in the banks ahead of tomorrow's announcement on the National Asset Management Agency.
Dublin traders said international and local investors appeared to believe that tomorrow's announcement would be a positive thing for the banks, with decent buy interest around them all.
Bank of Ireland was up 4 per cent by 2.30pm to €2.95, while AIB gained 3 per cent to €2.68. Irish Life & Permanent, meanwhile, was up 3.2 per cent to €5.80.
Shares in Elan were also up, gaining 0.8 per cent to €5.27. It was announced yesterday that the company had resolved a dispute with US partner Biogen Idec. Johnson & Johnson said it would cut the amount it would pay for its 18.4 per cent stake in Elan by $115 million to $885 million. However, stock volumes were low, traders said.
Airlines were also performing strongly, with Aer Lingus up 2.6 per cent to €0.77 and Ryanair rising 2 per cent to €3.50.
Smurfit also had a strong performance for the day, rising 1.7 per cent to €5.90.