Financials lead market higher

SHARES in Dublin rose for the seventh day in eight with the financial heavyweights and construction giants CRH leading the charge. The ISEQ climbed 4.54 to 5977.02.

Allied Irish Banks closed 10c higher at €14.38. Bank of Ireland edged to €11.03. Anglo added 10c to €15.80 while Irish Life and Permanent was down 25c to €13.40.

In the construction sector, CRH and Grafton posted gains of 9c and 5c respectively, while Kingspan, Heiton and Abbey all traded lower. Elsewhere, drug company Elan was down 35c to €22.45 while Ryanair was 2c weaker at €5.05. C&C soared 11c to €2.75 on strong trading.