ISEQ rises over 20 points

The Dublin stock exchange had a positive start to the day which saw it rise 21.61 points to 6868.02 by 11am this morning.

It has been a mainly positive morning for the financial sector with Anglo Irish Bank rising 31c to €11.28 by 11am. Anglo earlier reported pre-tax profits of €685.2m for the year to the end of September. The figure shows a 36% rise on the previous year, after record growth in lending.

AIB showed a 11c rise to € 17.75, while Bank of Ireland had a modest one cent increase to €13.25. Irish Life and Permanent's 10c fall to €15.25 was the only blot in the sector.

In the construction sector, two rivals had a contrasting start. CRH fell 14c to €22.75 while Grafton climbed by the same amount to €7.94.

Elsewhere, both Elan and Trinity biotech fell 15c to €9 and €1.70 respectively, whereas FBD Holdings saw their stock increase by 20c to €32.70.