ISEQ makes modest gains in heavy trading

IRISH shares made modest gains during heavy trading yesterday, rising by 1.13 per cent to finish at 4,521.83, up 50.54 points on the day. However, prices failed to recover from losses earlier in the week, finishing 106 points down on last Friday's close of 4,627.35.

Dublin lagged London and New York, which performed strongly, although one dealer, who said this was "not completely unusual", expressed confidence that the Dublin market would respond next week to the positive international climate.

In a day dominated by buying, industrials outperformed the financials. "There was good honest-to-God buying for the first time in a while and it was good to see overseas investors coming back into the market," said one dealer, who added that the market was "generally healthy".

CRH was strongest on the day, staging a good recovery from Thursday's losses which followed a profit warning from British building materials group Blue Circle. CRH rose 45 cents to finish at €17.95 (£14.14) reflecting an acceptance, as one dealer put it, that Blue Circle's profit warning was confined to its Asian operations and would have no bearing on CRH's performance.

Strongest of the financials was Irish Life & Permanent which gained 30 cents to finish at €9.70 (£7.64) after a heavy day's trading with the stock hitting €9.75 at one stage. Bank of Ireland was well bid ahead of its interim results on November 11th, although the share finished three cents easier at €7.42 (£5.84). AIB, though not as well bid, ended the day at €11.90 (£9.37), up five cents.

Eircom, which had a quiet week, rose also by five cents, finishing the day at €3.96 (£3.12). A dealer noted positive sentiment towards the stock ahead of its interim results in mid-November and a strong performance in telecoms companies throughout Europe.

Smurfit rose by four cents on the day to finish at €2.47 (£1.95), reflecting the strong equity market in the US.

Ryanair, by contrast, lost 17 cents to end the day at €7.80 (£6.14).