Elan leads rally rising over 4% as Iseq advances

Iseq: 2,923.06 (+24.11) Settlement date: April 22ndTHE IRISH market participated in an equities rebound yesterday as investor risk appetite recovered across global markets.

The Iseq index advanced about 0.8 per cent to 2,923.06, reversing some of the losses incurred during Monday’s widespread sell-off after Standard Poor’s fired a warning shot across the bows of the US economy.

Positive earnings from a number of major global corporations – including Goldman Sachs which beat estimates quite comfortably – helped entice buyers back and this had a ripple effect for the Dublin exchange.

Drugs manufacturer Elan continued to power ahead for a second day after its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri received a boost on Monday when European regulators approved updated labelling. The stock rose almost 4.7 per cent, or 26 cent, bringing it to €5.78.

Building materials giant CRH bounced about for much of the session, fluctuating in a range of €15.40 to €15.72. By the close, it had settled at €15.54, a gain of five cent on the day.

Dual-listed exploration company Petroneft Resources enjoyed a boost after Dolmen Securities set a new share price target of £1.18 for the stock. It jumped just under 2 per cent on the London market to 55p on decent volume.

Grafton Group was also a winner, gaining almost 2 per cent, or 6.5 cent, to close at €3.45.

Though the spotlight of the Irish media was focused firmly on the Nyberg report into the banking crisis, traders said this had little impact on the equity market. Banking stocks shifted fractionally, but one trader noted these are “absolutely irrelevant” at the moment.

Overall the Irish market was relatively thinly traded.

“Net net it was generally very quiet across the board,” one Dublin broker said.