Irish Life & Permanent the main attraction

Shares on the Dublin exchange rose marginally yesterday, with investors showing strong buying interest in Irish Life & Permanent, as the market rose by 0.27 per cent to close at 5,237.67. Irish Life and Permanent closed 2.87 per cent stronger in a 25 cent rise to €8.95. Yet the performance of other financial stocks was less positive. Bank of Ireland eased 11 cents to close at €6.80, wiping out gains on Wednesday, and AIB closed just one cent higher at €9.46.

Drug group Elan finished 50 cents weaker at €60, a day after it revealed plans to enter a research project with US group Pharmacia Corporation to develop a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Golden Vale reported a 12 per cent rise in operating profit to €19.4 million, with revenues falling by 2 per cent in the first half of the year. But traders said the results were behind expectations and the stock closed unchanged at €1.12 after dropping by more than 2.5 per cent in earlier trading. Competing food group, Kerry, gained 20 cents to close at €14.10.

Eircom edged nine cents higher to close at €2.61 a day after it hit a record low of €2.52, although the stock remains out of favour and far off its flotation price of €3.90.

CRH closed five cents stronger at €18.00 and Ryanair, which has expressed concern about general market conditions, lost another 10 cents to close at €9.20.

Of the techs, SmartForce lost 13.44 per cent in early trading on the Nasdaq. The stock was trading at $45.88 (€50.52) at lunchtime in New York a day after the company revealed that its chairman Mr Bill McCabe will resign in a restructuring. Iona Technologies was also weaker, trading 5.36 per cent below its previous close at $70.44 (€77.57).