Sterling held its gains against the euro and the dollar as currency markets surveyed polls suggesting Boris Johnson’s Conservatives were on course to secure a comfortable Commons majority in Thursday’s election.

Irish shares and Government bond yields fell today as a political manoeuvre by UK prime minister Boris Johnson was seen as boosting the chances of a crash-out Brexit at Halloween and an early British election.

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 shares of the two main Irish bank shares had one of their worst days since the financial crisis as lacklustre earnings and the looming Brexit threat hit hard.

The head of the ECB Mario Draghi came close to confirming that some interest rates are heading lower in September -- and a senior analyst says this will provide Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe with a ‘Draghi bounty’ and more ‘fiscal room’ in his autumn budget.

Shares in Cairn Homes fell 1.5% over the news “blow” that its group finance director Tim Kenny is to leave the housebuilder.

The cost for the Irish State for any long-term borrowing is fast approaching zero as markets reacted to the nomination of Christine Lagarde to head up the ECB.

The latest health check on the Irish economy has delivered a cautious thumbs up, despite sterling taking a fresh tumble amid heightening fears of a no-deal Brexit happening in October.

The Central Bank fine on Campbell O’Connor, which is closing down after almost 60 years in business, was reduced to €280,00 from €400,000 after it admitted to the breaches and co-operated with the regulator from an early stage.

Around 10,000 Ulster Bank customers are paying one of the highest mortgage rates in the eurozone, at 4.3%, despite opportunities to move to a lower band, the lender has said.

SMEs are asking for more loans, Bank of Ireland has said, boosting hopes that some of the worst effects of Brexit are beginning to lift.

Green Reit shares climbed following its surprise decision to put itself on the market, but other stock market property listed firms failed to get a major lift.

Sterling fell slightly as Theresa May lost a vote for the third time for her EU withdrawal deal, which could bring a UK general election closer.

Sterling edged higher against the euro and dollar in a sign that currency markets still bet that the risk of Britain crashing out of the EU is unlikely.

Sterling and European shares fell as the risk of the UK accidentally dropping out of the EU without a deal increased, as European Council President Donald Tusk told Theresa May she can have a short Brexit delay but only if the deal is voted through by the UK parliament next week.

Hopes that UK Prime Minister Theresa May could clinch a last-minute deal with the EU boosted sterling against the euro, as markets continued to predict that any Brexit involving Britain crashing out at the end of the month was most unlikely.

European stock markets fell and the euro slid against the dollar. It traded little changed at 85.74 pence against sterling.

The chance of the European Central Bank (ECB) hiking interest rates this year has fallen to 15% and financial markets expect rates to rise only once in 2020, by a slender quarter point.

A surge in sterling as EU and UK negotiators reached a breakthrough in the Brexit talks could be shortlived, analysts have warned, as many political obstacles to closing the deal lie ahead.

AIB fared relatively better than its main rival Bank of Ireland in so-called stress tests conducted on large European banks by regulators, but the outlook for their shares will likely remain clouded for some time.

New forecasts by the EU project a steep rise in consumer prices in the next year, but wages may yet increase at a faster pace to ensure higher spending power.

Irish factories still extended a winning run despite the huge disruption to work and transport that Storm Emma visited on the country last month.

Revelations of alleged email hacking and serious corporate governance clashes at Independent News and Media, the country’s largest newspaper publisher, have their roots in September and October 2016 meetings.

INM shares decline 5% on ODCE probe news.

Comments by ECB chief economist over the steep path inflation still has to take may mean mortgage rates here stay lower for longer, an economist has said.

Glanbia shares slid 7.5%, stripping around €300m from its market value, as investors showed disappointment at the company’s 2018 earnings outlook, despite it unveiling 2017 figures which showed an eighth successive year of strong growth.

Irish bank shares, and in particular those of Permanent TSB face political risks of tighter regulatory controls over sales of mortgage loans in long-term arrears to vulture funds, a leading analyst has said, writes Eamon Quinn.

Most Irish households would probably struggle to identify any direct link between their daily lives and a slump in hugely-overvalued American company stock prices, writes Eamon Quinn.

As we look back at 2017, Brexit and Trump are two words that came to define many of the year’s headlines, says John Daly

Sterling went on a roller-coaster yesterday falling back sharply as high hopes for a Brexit deal were dashed, while US and European shares surged following the US Senate weekend vote to approve president Donald Trump’s tax-cutting bill.

A potential for a snap election has generated huge interest from abroad but Irish bonds and the euro were left untouched as investors bet the effect on the looming Brexit summit would be limited, writes Eamon Quinn.

For the first time, Bank of Ireland has said it may have to put aside more money to meet the costs of the tracker mortgage scandal, but says any additional amount will be “manageable”.

Robert Pitt has resigned as chief executive of Independent News and Media (INM) following an extraordinary row that had waged in the media company for over a year.

Shares in Glenveagh Properties rose almost 14% above its offer price on its debut on the Irish Stock Exchange as investors hailed the prospects for an Irish house builder focused on building houses.

The first hike in interest rates may be longer away than thought as the ECB holds off for almost a further three years despite the eurozone expanding at a fast clip, a leading economist has predicted.

Ireland could attract fewer manufacturing investments in future years from US pharmaceutical giants, according to a leading analyst, as President Donald Trump unveiled a plan to cut the tax levied on US companies to 20%.

Shares in Cairn Homes rose over 1.5%, as the Dublin housebuilder increased sales and boosted margins. It indicated it was on course to sell significantly more homes, amid the huge demand for housing.

Analysts are pouring over market charts of the Cuban missile crisis in the early 1960s and the war of words over North Korea to assess whether investors’ fright will calm any time soon.

Irish manufacturing appears to have shed its Brexit blues caused by the drop in sterling, while UK manufacturing growth slowed significantly, according to the latest surveys of purchasing managers across the world.

Outstanding loans to businesses and for households to buy homes has continued to contract, prompting a leading economist to question whether the economy can prosper without more credit.

A clarification to comments made by ECB chief Mario Draghi has eased fears that the costs of borrowing for businesses and homeowners would rise before 2019.

House prices will rise 10% this year across the State and climb at even faster pace outside of Dublin, fuelled by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme and the Central Bank’s loosening of its mortgage lending controls, Davy Stockbrokers has predicted.

Irish consumer confidence remained shaky last month with new car sales continuing their slide with a 24% year-on-year decline.

There was no disguising the double whammy that the unexpected US election result meant for Ireland’s prosperity.

The cloud of uncertainty over Ireland caused by Brexit will likely take years to lift amid concerns over the looming EU-UK talks but the economy will nonetheless perform relatively strongly in the coming years, according to a major report from Investec Ireland.

Irish exporters have been warned about further sharp currency fluctuations, should the EU-UK talks end in no trade deal and tough controls over workers.

Independent News & Media (INM) chief Robert Pitt used whistleblowing legislation to complain around the time a dispute raged inside the media firm over the potential acquisition of Newstalk, it has emerged.

After the UK parliament provided its backing for the EU withdrawal bill, the British Prime Minister told MPs that “this will be a defining moment for our whole country as we begin to forge the new relationship with Europe and a new role for ourselves in the world”.

Irish consumer spending is expected to grow by as much as 5%, in volume terms, this year, despite Brexit effects and monthly retail sales remaining erratic.

There is a very low risk that political strains at home will scupper the launch of a sale of shares in AIB by early summer, analysts have said.