Slight rebound for ISEQ

After a week of decline, the ISEQ index of Irish shares steadied somewhat today, gaining 35.25 points to 4,345.00.

The financials, which bore the brunt of much of the negative sentiment recently, did relatively well. Irish Life And Permanent was the best performer, climbing 20c to €6.75, and Allied Irish Banks showed a 13c gain to €7.98. Bank of Ireland was down slightly however, losing 8c to €5.02, and Anglo Irish Bank fell slightly (down 3c to €5.04).

There was mixed fortunes for the construction sector also, as CRH shot up 46c to €19.10. The news was not as good for Kingspan (down 15c to €7.30) and Grafton (down 11c to €3.42).

Paddy Power showed another loss, plunging 40c to €12.70.

The rest of the Exchange featured some encouraging gains, however. The energy sector continued its recent resurgence, with Tullow Oil starring once again, lifting 36c to €9.67. Dragon Oil also did well, up 19c to €3.00.

Elsewhere, Elan was up 27c to €8.31, Kerry Group gained 20c to €21.00, and FBD showed a 10c boost to €14.10.