Avolon Holdings, the Dublin-headquartered aircraft lessor backed by CVC Capital Partners, Cinven and Oak Hill Capital Partners, declined on its trading debut yesterday after raising $273 million (€218.8m) in a US initial public offering — the largest capital raising by an Irish company in the last seven years.

The financials moved fractionally yesterday, with AIB the only loser, closing down 0.2c to 5.4c. Both Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB Group closed slightly ahead on 9.3c and 2.7c respectively. The ISE gained 29.26 to 3,256.49.

THE New York Stock Exchange is understood to be considering launching a bid for its London counterpart.

US stocks seemed lost for direction at midday yesterday as a gloomy tech landscape weighed down market sentiment despite some upbeat news on the economy's services sector and DuPont's bullish forecast.

US stocks drifted around the break-even point yesterday afternoon, erasing early losses, as investors showed little interest in committing to a direction ahead of anticipated speeches from US President George W Bush and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, and the one-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.