Market struggles to close ahead

THE Irish market struggled to stay out of the red in yesterdays trading session with the ISEQ closing marginally up at 5046.91, 3.11 points better. The financials again being the main lagging factor hindering the bourse’s progress.

Over 4.6 million shares were traded between the countries two main lenders AIB & Bank of Ireland, advancing the share prices upwards to finish at €13.22 and €10.99 respectively. Such is the consensus among investors that the shares are cheap relative to European counterparts. Both banks are to release their annual results at the end of the month.

McInerney posted a solid set of 2003 results yesterday with profits rising 45%. Even with this positive news they ended at €5.25, down 5c.