AIB, Bank of Ireland shares rebound in early trade

Shares in the State’s two largest banks have rebounded strongly today with Bank of Ireland rising over 50 per cent and AIB gaining 33 per cent.

The bounce in the banks was the story of the morning trading with Bank of Ireland adding 52 per cent to 19 cent at 12.15pm with 11 million shares traded.

Although the volumes were described as “pretty strong” brokers said there was little evidence of stake-building. The bank had seen its share price fall 30 per cent to 12.5 cent yesterday.

AIB rose almost 33 per cent to 36 cent with almost 8 million shares traded in Dublin. Yesterday the stock fell 21 per cent to €0.27. This compares to the bank’s share price of €13.29 a year ago.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.5 per cent by midmorning following sharp falls in Japan's markets on a spread of overnight worries about the U.S. banking sector.

Tokyo's Nikkei average dropped 3.5 per cent to hit a four-month closing low and the broader Topix declined 2.7 per cent to 721.39, a fresh 25-year closing low.

This morning the dollar rolled back sharply from three-year highs and demand for euro zone government debt rose as investors fretted that US employment data this afternoon would be worse than previously forecast.

The US Labor Department is to release one of the most closely-watched US indicators later in the day, the monthly non-farm payrolls report.

Economists expect 648,000 jobs were lost in the United States in February after 598,000 were shed in January, and see the unemployment rate rising to a 25-year high of 7.9 percent from 7.6 percent the previous month.

The report is significant because it hints at future consumer confidence - and hence spending - patterns in the world's largest economy.

Additional reporting Reuters