Building and financial stocks boost ISEQ

Building and financial stocks helped the ISEQ index of shares to gains of 71.88 to 7887.4 today.

CRH - among the exchange's most traded stocks today - rose 33c to €28.63. Grafton rose 19c to €10.89 while Kingspan was up 6c to €13.13.

The increases followed a positive buzz to the ISEQ in the form of a new survey from Deloitte, where more than 75% of builders providers predicted sales growth in the next 12 months, with around 40% estimating sales will increase by more than 10%.

Those surveyed identified a number of challenges ahead, however, including a possible skills gap among new employees and the potential saturation of the market.

There were gains too among financial stocks. AIB led the charge with a 23c increase to €18.88. Anglo Irish, meanwhile, was up 19c to €13.09, while Bank of Ireland was up 11c to €14.56.

Irish Life and Permanent saw a 5c increase to €20.70.

Meanwhile, bookmaker Paddy Power surged 45c to €13.50.

Ryanair shares closed up 16c at €6.80 as the low cost carrier was named ‘Airline of the Year’ by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland at a ceremony in Dublin today.

The no-frills airline also scooped awards for 'Best Value for Money' and 'Best Online Services', though no representative from the airline was present to receive the award.