AIB piggybacked on the progress of its rival, gaining further impetus from renewed talk of a share buyback at AIB that could be announced as early as its results next week. It finished 31 cents stronger at €12.30.

Until security forces started shutting down British airports, the only story of the day in Dublin was the buyback by Bank of Ireland of €2.6 million worth of its shares. The move helped the financial index climb more than 2 per cent, offsetting falls in other sectors and leading the ISEQ to a 0.63 per cent gain.

Bank of Ireland surged ahead on the news, with traders saying the initiative had gone down well with major shareholders who were concerned that it might otherwise go on acquisitions that might not complement the group's strengths. The shares went as high as €10.12 before closing up 40 cents on €10.

Irish Life & Permanent failed to catch the mood, surrendering 28 cents to €9.62 over worries about insurance firms in falling equity markets. Anglo Irish also fell, giving up eight cents to €6.22, with a couple of overseas sellers putting their holdings on the market. Director Mr Paddy Wright also announced that he had bought 10,000 shares in the bank at €6.30 on Wednesday, bringing his holding above 200,00 shares.

Elsewhere, Galen Holdings was substantially weaker following its recent run, closing off 33 cents at €5.47. Ryanair was down amid poor sentiment in the tourism sector. The shares were off 10 cents at €6.30. DCC was also back slightly as the market cleared out a seller with a line of around a quarter of a million shares. The stock closed at €9.70, down 25 cents.

Mid and small capitalisation stocks generally struggled to make ground in what traders said was still a "directionless" market.

Settlement Date: February 18th