The Iseq was trading slightly up today, as construction stocks helped boost the market.
By 1.32pm, the Dublin index was up 11.71 points to 3,082.18.
Builders' merchants Grafton gained 2.2 per cent by 1,15pm to trade at €3.25. The company released a trading statement to the market on Wednesday that said turnover continued to stabilise during 2009, but fell 26 per cent compared with a year earlier.
This was in line with results released by marshalls today, which saw signs of stability in the swecond half of 2009, as like for like sales fell 11 per cent compared to 16 per cent for the entire year.
CRH was 1.84 per cent to €18.23. Brokers noted data from Texas Industries which pointed to falling cement prices in the US. CRH is one of the largest buyers of cement on the open market in US, traders said, which puts them in a position to benefit from this fall.
Kingspan, meanwhile, gained 2.1 per cent by 1.15pm to trade at €6.94.
Financials were mixed, with shares in AIB up 2.6 per cent to €1.69, and Bank of Ireland trading flat. The National Treasury Management Agency yesterday confirmed that the National Asset Management Agency would acquire toxic loans on a phased basis, a process that is expected to begin next month. The 30 per cent discount applied to the debts is expected to go ahead.
Irish Life and Permanent was down slightly, trading 0.9 per cent off at €3.50.
Aer Lingus gained 8.7 per cent during the session, after confirming that it would be scaling back operations at its Gatwick base. The airline plans to reduce the number of aircraft it keeps at the British airport.
In Britain, gains in banks and mining firms offset weaker oil majors to help the FTSE edge up slightly by mid-session. At 1152 GMT the FTSE 100 was up 2.67 points at 5,529.39.
A series of broker upgrades helped provide some direction to equities, with Eurasian Natural Resources up 5.2 per cent, topping the blue chip gainers after an upgrade by broker RBS to "buy" from "hold" in a sector review.
Among the broker's top picks in the sector were Xstrata, Vedanta Resources and Rio Tinto, which gained 0.4 to 1.7 per cent. RBS also raised targets for the trio.
Additional reporting- Reuters
