Building stocks prop up ISEQ

A rallying cry was heard across the trading floor this morning as construction shares spearheaded the market's charge into positive territory.

The ISEQ-index of Irish shares climbed up 0.73% at 7186.33 points as building materials group CRH surged ahead by 38c to €25.23.

Construction shares at Grafton also climbed 27c at €6.02 defying negative commentary that the Irish building sector is experiencing a slow down.

Elsewhere blue chip stocks in the financial sector experienced a sluggish morning. AIB suffered something of a false start with a 10c slide to €15.50.

Meanwhile Bank of Ireland climbed 8c to €10.95, IL&P increased 5c at €13.90 and Anglo, the stronger performer of the three also only managed a modest 12c gain at €11.10.