ISEQ hits record high

SHARES in Dublin recovered from Friday's slump with the ISEQ Index hitting a new record high, climbing 41.67 points to 9953.18.

In the financial sector, leading banks AIB and Bank of Ireland climbed 20c and 18c to €23.95 and €18.49 respectively. In the second line Anglo-Irish was up 5c to 16.40 as was Irish Life & Permanent which ended the session at €22.70.

In construction, CRH nudged upwards by 5c to €33.15 despite figures showing that US housing starts for January slumped to an annualised rate of 1.408m units compared to 1.643m in December.