Market continues steady advance

THE ISEQ index continued to gain ground yesterday in line with most European indices. This followed news that large US lender CIT Group had secured a US tax laws €3bn rescue package which would help keep it out of bankruptcy.

The Irish market ended the day 39.26 points higher at 2,740.19.

The financial sector had mixed fortunes with AIB adding 2c to €1.73 and Bank of Ireland declining by 1c to €1.65. Irish Life & Permanent gained 6c to €2.90, while insurance company FBD Holdings lost 26c to €6.15.

In the construction sector, CRH jumped 36c to €16.68 as US figures showed an increase of 3.6% in housing starts for June. Kingspan gave up 6c to €4.21, while Grafton Group added 2c to €2.63.

Elsewhere, pharmaceutical company Elan was the leading riser up 49c to €5.68. C&C dropped 3c to €2.08despite results of the Nielsen survey showing better than expected sales of Magners in Britain. Ryanair firmed 7c to €3.27 while Kerry Group shed 35c to close at €17.25.