Irish bank shares get surprising boost from Jeremy Corbyn’s unity bid, as sterling gains

A sharp rebound for Irish bank shares capped a week in which global stock markets were haunted by the threat of global recession, sparking a flight by investors from shares to government bonds.

The Iseq index of Irish shares ended the session 1.3% higher but has still lost around 3% of its value in the past five days. Large gains for the Irish banks stood out — helped by gains for sterling amid Jeremy Corbyn’s bid to topple Prime Minister Boris Johnson by uniting political opposition in Westminster against a crash-out Brexit at Halloween.