C&C makes gains as small volumes change hands

St Patrick might well have driven the stockbrokers from Ireland for all the action there was on the Dublin exchange yesterday. Most in the market took advantage of the holiday weekend, so there was little by way of substantial trading. With only small volumes of shares changing hands, any price movements were largely attributed to activity in the busy London market.

For some dealers at least, the horse racing in Cheltenham was as much a topic of conversation as stocks as the ISEQ index closed 54.64 points or 0.69 per cent higher at 7,977. General shares led the way, rising by 1.07 per cent to end the week 58.23 points higher at 5,484.27. Financials gained 0.24 per cent to close 34.83 points higher at 14,478.88.

The biggest mover on the day was building materials group CRH, which closed 53 cent weaker at €29.35.

C&C closed 7 cent stronger at €5.52. This was in spite of market chatter about a possible rise in the duty on cider in Britain, where the company is trialing its Magner's product. Magner's is a premium product so dealers said there would be little scope to pass on an increase if that arose.

Pharmaceutical group Elan, which has received a lift thanks to the likely reintroduction of its drug Tysabri, finished 16 cent higher at €12.38.

Among the financials, Anglo Irish Bank gave up 24 cent to close at €15.20. AIB was the most traded stock on the day, closing 4 cent higher at €19.05. Bank of Ireland was 20 cent higher at €15.20. Eircom, which is the subject of a takeover approach from Australian group Babcock & Brown Capital, closed unchanged at €2.14, 6 cent below the level at which the Aussies brought their stake close to the 29 per cent point that would trigger a mandatory bid.

Elsewhere Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary won the Gold Cup with War of Attrition. The airline's stock finished 7 cent weaker at €7.72. Its chief executive is unlikely to grudge the decline - at least until Monday morning.