Market closes in positive territory
In the banking sector, AIB dipped slightly by 0.3c to 21.5c. Bank of Ireland also eased back 0.3c to 24c. Irish Life & Permanent bucked the sector trend by nudging upwards by 0.3c to 15.4, while insurance company FBD holdings jumped 9.4c to 7.434.
In construction, heavyweight CRH was a leading riser, climbing 59c to 16.42, despite another weak month for highway contract awards in the US leaving a Q1 decline of 10%. Grafton Group was also ahead by 5.1c to 3.531, while Kingspan gained 6.5c to 6.65.
