Surge by major bank stocks
The main thrust came from the financial index, as speculation of a merger between Bank of Ireland and Abbey National caused a surge from the bigger banking stocks. Bank of Ireland itself added 37c to 11.25 with Allied Irish Bank adding 15c to 12.75. Irish Life and Permanent gained 17c to 12.97 and Anglo Irish Bank finished the session 10c stronger at 6.30. Overall the ISEQ Financial Index closed 170.01 points higher at 8546.48. Following the announcement of its offering of one-million seats for one cent, Ryanair surged 32c to 5.82. Of the industrials, CRH was strongest with a 12c rise to 14.92.
Independent News and Media added 7c to 1.57, while Kingspan dropped 3c to 1.98. Kerry added 30c to 14.30, Greencore up 8c to 2.98, while IAWS climbed 10c to 7.90 after announcing that second-half profit rose 35%. Elsewhere, Paddy Power fell 16c to 5.12, Waterford Wedgewood eased 2c to 48c, while Jurys Doyle was unchanged at 8.10.
