Markets buck European trend

THE Irish Index of shares closed up 8.19 points to 4299.96 points as markets across Europe struggled.

The financial shares performed well. Allied Irish Bank gained ground for successive days, adding 0.95% to 12.72 after it was announced that it was picked to join the FTSE Eurotop 100 Index from the start of trading on June 23. Other banks to feature were Bank of Ireland and First Active which rose 0.67% and 1.79% to 10.57 and 4.55, respectively.

Elsewhere, Ryanair lost 2.1% to 5.58, recording a fifth consecutive session of failing to gain ground. On a positive note, Kenmare Resources, trading in good volumes, advanced 15% to 23c.