Financials reverse losses

THE Irish stock market improved

The financial shares made up some of the ground lost by the previous day's trading. Irish Life & Permanent led the way adding 15c to close at 13.05.

The two leading banks had mixed fortunes, Bank of Ireland adding 9c to finish at 12.14 and AIB was marginally lower by 5c to close at 13.55.

First Active and IFG each lost 5c to close at 4.80 and 1.33 respectively. The ISEQ Financial Index gained 22.18 to close at 9018.98 points.

CRH and Kerry were strong gainers yesterday. The world’s largest home-improvement retailer, US based Home Depot Inc, reported a second quarter earnings rise of 28%. CRH, which makes half its profit in the US saw its share price increase 22c to close at 15.41 yesterday. Kerry gained 25c to finish at 15.05 ahead of its half year results.

Other notable movers included Irish Contintental Group and DCC.

Irish Contintental Group fell 15c to 6.80 after Mersey Docks and Harbour, which runs the UK port of Liverpool, reported a fall of first half profits by 5.4 percent. DCC added 30c to close at 10.70.