Avian flu in Scotland puts pressure on Greencore

Market Report: The Irish market ended the day little changed yesterday amid light trading volumes and a mixed performance from its leading members.

The day's main news story - the discovery of a dead swan with avian flu in Scotland - put pressure on Irish food group Greencore. About half of the company's ready-made food products are poultry dishes and, following a similar discovery in France, sales of poultry declined by 25 per cent. This is the first naturally occurring case in Britain.

Greencore's shares were down 10 cent, or 2.5 per cent, at €3.90.

Paddy Power also came under pressure, dropping 15 cent, or 1.1 per cent, to €13.10. Dealers said a change to online gaming regulations prompted traders to switch out of traditional bookmakers into online gaming.

Also pushed into negative territory was Ryanair, which slipped six cent to €7.59 on the back of a rally in the oil price.

Building and materials group CRH was one of the star performers, benefiting from earnings upgrades by one of its US peers. In addition, one dealer said there was a feeling that there was some uplift in the group's European operations.

The shares added 48 cent, or 1.7 per cent, to close at €29.18.

C&C rose five cent, or 0.9 per cent, to €5.75. Its Magners cider has been named in the top 10 desired drinking products in the UK, according to new data.

Elsewhere Irish Life & Permanent was the best performer among the banks, which were generally unaffected by the ECB's decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 2.5 per cent. The shares ended the day up 25 cent, or 1.3 per cent, at €20.30. Anglo Irish Bank also held up well, rising three cent, or 0.3 per cent, to €13.23.

Bank of Ireland slipped three cent, to €15.12, while AIB dropped 27 cent, to €19.26.

Horizon Technology was unchanged at €1.05 despite Quinn Direct Insurance increasing its stake to almost 6.6 per cent. Dealers said there was no significance in this move.