Market nudges slightly ahead

Irish shares nudged ahead slightly again having spent much of the day in the red as investors capitalised on last week’s sharp gains.

The iseq Index closed up 1.39 points to 3,263.29.

Banking stocks all traded weaker with the exception of AIB which gained 0.2c to 5.3c. Bank of Ireland dipped by 0.2c to 9.5c while Permanent TSB Group lost 0.1c to 2.45c. Insurer FDB Holdings was unchanged at €9.20.

In construction, CRH strengthened by 30c to €15.10, Grafton was flat at €3.35, while Kingspan lost 24.5c to €7.95.

Elsewhere, Origin Enterprises jumped 9.9c to €4.15. Associated British Foods said yesterday that its Frontier business (a competitor of Origin in the UK) continued to trade well. High crop prices underpinned good farm profitability resulting in strong demands for inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and crop protection products.