ISEQ in the black

The ISEQ index of Irish shares finished this morning in the black today, up 14.21 points to 7610.52.

In the financial stocks, Bank of Ireland saw the morning's biggest rise, up 23c rise to €14.48.

The bank today published figures to show the Irish jobs market is undergoing a recruitment boom. Bank of Ireland said more than 19,000 job ads were placed in national daily and Sunday newspapers last month, an increase of 84% on the figures for December.

AIB also saw a rise today, up 7c to 18.45, while Anglo Irish Bank was up 5c to €13.07. Irish Life and Permanent bucked the trend among the financials, falling 5c to €17.35.

In the mining and exploration sector, gas exploration and production company Providence announced today that it had signed a farm-out agreement with ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil and gas company, on its Dunquin Prospect in the Porcupine Basin off the west coast of Ireland. The news saw Providence stock rise a cent to 6c.

Meanwhile, mining company Glencar has executed an agreement with Orogen Holdings BVI , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gold Fields Ltd, relating to the Sankarani project in Mali, West Africa. Glencar stock stayed level at 10c today.

Finally, no-frills airline Ryanair saw its stock fall 12c to €7.60 today. An undercover documentary to be broadcast in Britain tonight is set to accuse Ryanair of security lapses, operating dirty aircraft and over-working its staff.