Market advances on deal hopes

THE ISEQ index progressed 15.74 to 2,620.28 yesterday as hopes remain that EU leaders will take major steps at a summit this weekend to tackle the continuing debt crisis.

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the meeting would be an important step but warned that one summit would not be enough to resolve the crisis.

In the financial sector, Bank of Ireland’s gained 0.3c to 9.9c. AIB dipped 0.1c to 6.1c. Irish Life & Permanent decreased 0.1c to 3.2c, while insurance group FBD Holdings was unchanged at €6.55.

In the construction sector, CRH jumped 49c to €13.44, Grafton Group was 10.1c weaker at €2.74, while Kingspan increased 3.1c to €6.23.

C&C reported a 9% rise in pretax profit to €59.7m for the first half of the year. The shares fell 11.5c at €2.72.