ISEQ rises after gains in banking stocks

STRONG gains in the three Irish banking stocks drove the ISEQ up by 1.27%, or 29 points, to 2,306.91 points, yesterday.

AIB headed back towards to €1 per share mark; up 24c — or 32.71% — at 99c. Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) still has the highest share value of any of the banks, at present, rising yesterday by another 3c to €1.63. Bank of Ireland, meanwhile, gained an impressive enough 15c in value, closing the day up by under 35.5% at 57c.

Strong gains in British banking stocks — Barclays, alone, surged by as much as 73% yesterday — and rises in energy shares, thanks mainly to a firming up of crude oil prices led the FTSE in London to close 3.9%, or 157 points, up on Friday’s close. It ended yesterday at 4,209 points. The CAC in Paris was also up by 3.7% to 2.955, while the Frankfurt DAX closed at 4,327 points, an increase of 3.5% on last week’s end.