Markets enjoy positive day’s trading

European and US markets had another positive day yesterday, as bourses on both sides of the Atlantic made headway.

Both the ECB and Bank of England had rates meetings on the day with the BoE holding fire and maintaining their base rate at 0.5%. ECB president Mario Draghi acknowledged that a possible cut to the Eurozone rate had been discussed by the governing council, however he said the prevailing consensus was to leave rates unchanged at 0.75%. The Iseq index gained 2.3 points to close at 3828.3.

Irish banks were mixed on the day. AIB shed 0.1c to 6.4c while Permanent TSB Group was 0.1c ahead at 3.6c. Bank of Ireland continued to advance, the stock gaining 2.1% to 14.6c. Irish insurer FBD Holdings added 9.5c to 12.395.