Smurfit Kappa stock rises as Iseq follows Europe up 1%

Iseq: 2,972.07 (+34.95) Settlement date: February 16thA LATE rally by European stock markets following news that Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak had resigned, resulted in a strong end to the week for global stock markets.

The trajectory of the Dublin market mirrored market trends further afield, with the Iseq finishing up just over 1 per cent higher at 2,972.

Virtually all of the main names finished in positive territory.

Smurfit Kappa continued to be the focus of investor attention yesterday, bringing to a close a strong week for the packaging giant, which announced details of a 25 million share placing on Thursday.

It was one of the most actively traded shares. While it did not repeat the strong gains of the previous session, it did finish fractionally higher at just over €9.

Despite Moody’s downgrading of unguaranteed senior unsecured Irish bank debt, financial stocks performed well.

Bank of Ireland, which was one of the most active stocks, climbed almost 7 per cent to €0.38. AIB added 4 per cent to €0.28, while Irish Life and Permanent, which announced details of a mortgage interest rate increase on Thursday, also added 4 per cent to €0.97.

The exchange’s two airline stocks made gains, as oil prices fell as concern about Egypt subsided. Ryanair added 0.6 per cent to €3.63 while Aer Lingus rose 1.7 per cent to just under €1.04.

CRH was well bid, gaining 20 cent, or 1.2 per cent to finish the week at €16.69.

There was significant investor interest in exploration company Petroceltic. The ESM-listed stock rose 9.7 per cent to close at €0.17.

Paddy Power dipped, despite winning regulatory approval in Australia over its purchase of the outstanding minority shareholdings in Sportsbet. It shed 0.5 per cent to €29.55.