The Iseq was a lifted boat on the rising tide of European equities today, as market speculation this time focused on a possible agreement among European policymakers on a method to contain the sovereign debt crisis.
The other major market news of the day came courtesy of the Bank of England, which reignited its quantitative easing programme, while the European Central Bank held its base interest rate at 1.5 per cent.
National benchmark indexes rose in almost all western European markets, with the Dublin market registering a climb of 2.8 per cent.
This compared to a rise of 3.7 per cent on the FTSE 100, while France's Cac up 3.4 per cent and the German Dax gaining 3.2 per cent.
Bank stocks across Europe soared following reports in the French media that the French government is considering a contingency plan to take stakes in the country's lenders. In Dublin, Bank of Ireland closed up 4.9 per cent at 9 cent, on heavy trading volume.
In the food sector, Kerry rose 1.7 per cent to a closing price of €25.84, while Greencore closed more or less flat at 59 cent, on a day when UK bakery and sandwich retailer Greggs and food group Cranswick released earnings updates indicating difficulty in passing on increased input costs to consumers.
So comprehensive was the rally - the second consecutive positive day's trading across Europe after a period of torrid declines - that fallers were few and far between on the Iseq.
However, bookmaker Paddy Power slipped 0.8 per cent to €38.70, while food group Aryzta fell 0.6 per cent to €33.00.
Most Dublin stocks posted gains during the session, with pharmaceutical group United Drug leading the way in percentage terms with a 7.46 per cent rise to €2.45. Building materials group CRH, the largest stock on the index, also posted a healthy climb, advancing 6.6 per cent to a closing price of €12.75.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)