Irish bank shares join in rally ahead of ECB meeting this week

The European banking sector jumped 1.3%

Shares in Bank of Ireland and AIB rose as much as 2%. Picture: Julien Behal/PA

Irish bank shares and other leading stocks in Dublin joined in a buying spree with the rest of Europe as stock markets tracked a Wall Street rally that drove the US benchmark S&P 500 to fresh record highs, while investors awaited the European Central Bank's (ECB's) policy decision later this week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 0.8% higher following a 1.5% decline last week. The S&P 500 index in the US logged a fresh record high in the trading session, topping the all-time peak it hit last week that was fuelled by a rally in US chipmakers and heavyweight technology stocks.