IL&P up over 14% to buck weak trend in Irish banks

Iseq: 2,950.17 (+10.48) Settlement date: April 20thTHE MOODY'S downgrade on Irish sovereign debt from BAA1 to BAA3 and the continuation of a negative outlook appeared, on the face of it at least, to have affected the banks yesterday, with Bank of Ireland finishing down 4.3 per cent on €0.27 and Allied Irish Bank falling to €0.23, a 2.08 per cent drop off.

However, not all the banks shared the burden, with Irish Life & Permanent rallying by 14.86 per cent to finish the day at €0.17.

One commentator noted that the Moody’s downgrade went against that of Fitch, which upgraded Ireland’s outlook from negative to stable.

“Two ratings agencies have now put out ratings which take different views so the markets aren’t convinced either way. The agencies are very much coming out after the barn door has closed lately,” he said.

Meanwhile, the airlines stabilised after geopolitical factors in Libya and Northern Africa had the effect of driving up oil prices in recent weeks. Ryanair closed at €3.42 up 0.03 per cent.

Aer Lingus has made a good recovery over the course of the week, having had ground to gain following hits over the past few weeks and finished at €0.81, up 1.25 per cent.

“The airlines have been stronger over the past couple of days due to a little bit of a let-up on the oil prices in the past few days,” one trader said.

Elan was in “good shape” and finished up by 1.24 per cent at €5.32, with positive results expected from sister company Biogen Idec next week fuelling its good fortune.

Overall volumes were low and, given that the UK has already begun its mid-term, and with an extra two bank holidays due to the royal wedding and Easter coming up, it is expected it could remain so for the weeks ahead.