ISEQ continues its upward trend

The ISEQ continued its upward move yesterday to close 26.56 points better at 2,836.75. Despite Wednesday’s ECB Loan tender, European debt concerns continue to remain on the back burner.

In the US, economic growth was slower than estimated in the third quarter, with a sharp drop in healthcare spending.

In the financial sector, Bank of Ireland advanced 0.1c to 8.3c. AIB slipped 0.4c to 6.5c. Irish Life & Permanent was unchanged at 2.1c, while Insurance Group FBD Holdings were 2.9c better at 6.429.

In the construction sector, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed that planning permissions for dwellings in Ireland declined by 46% year-on-year in the third quarter. This brings the annualised run rate to circa 12,000, which represents a significant decline from peak levels of over 80,000. CRH increased 21c to €14.71. Grafton Group added 5.6c to €2.376, while Kingspan gained 12c to €6.52. In other news, Kerry Group dropped 40.5c to €27.78, Ryanair dipped 0.6c to €3.715, while Elan closed up 1.2c to €10.01.