Jurys dominates again during busy Iseq session

Dublin Report: Jurys Doyle again dominated the Dublin market on a busy day, which saw the Iseq Index of Irish shares rise 49.1 points to 6,743.37.

The hotel group was the biggest story of the day, with almost nine million shares traded. Dealing in the stock began close to lunchtime, with developer Seán Dunne offloading more than two million shares to comply with a Takeover Panel ruling. Stockbrokers bought several large tranches on behalf of an unnamed purchaser, with two big orders at €17.96, before the stock closed 25 cent or 1.41 per cent up at €18.

Investors were also keen on Eircom, with 10 million shares changing hands in Dublin and a further seven million in London.

Dealers said that the company has been discussing its purchase of mobile operator Meteor this week and its forthcoming €425 million rights issue, priced at €1.35 a unit.

"It looks like they are buying the Meteor story," one trader said after the stock posted a two cent increase to close at €1.92.

The financials were quiet, but Anglo Irish recovered 37 cent to close at €11.30 on volumes of 2.3 million. Irish Life & Permanent, due to publish its interim results next week, added five cent to close at €15.05. Another company expected to produce positive numbers next week is building materials company Kingspan, which saw plenty of activity, closing 43 cent up at €10.90.

Of the companies reporting this week, investors remained keen to sell bookmaker Paddy Power, which reported flat profits this week. The stock echoed this, closing level at €14.80. However, dealers suggested it was close to the point where it could be worth a punt again.

Glanbia, which also disappointed the markets earlier this week, made solid gains, adding five cent to €2.60.

Building materials group, CRH, also clawed back losses that followed its interims to close 35 cent up at €22.80, in the expectation of a pick up in its US business once post-Katrina reconstruction begins.

Dublin ReportSettlement Day: September 7th