Irish bank shares soar but European stocks still jittery

IRISH bank shares soared yesterday but stocks across Europe slid as fears mounted about the spread of a crisis.

Irish Life and Permanent was the biggest mover on the Irish Stock Exchange, jumping almost 60% to 82 cent. AIB shares rose close to 4% to 36c, while Bank of Ireland was up just over 16% to 31c.

Overall Irish stocks finished in positive territory last night and as they did the US markets were opening down around 1%.