Financials drive market higher

ON a buoyant day for European markets, the ISEQ Index of Irish shares closed 82.36 points higher to 4337.62.

The financial sector led the charge. Allied Irish Bank added 3.1% to €€14.28, after Friday's buyback of 620,000 shares brought the total number of shares bought back since April 4 to 13.55 million.

Trading in good volumes, Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish Bank rose 1.62% and 1.32% to €11.25 and €6.92 respectively. IFG rose 5.88% to 72c, while Datalex rose 8.82% to 37c as some investors judged the shares cheap after reaching their lowest close this year on Friday.