The Iseq index of Irish shares was 7.99 points or 0.13 per cent ahead at 6,105.87 towards the close of business today after a day characterised by high volumes of business in some leading stocks.
Today's shake up of the benchmark global Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index meant plenty of business was done in Irish companies that were entering and exiting it.
The one company that was being included, Anglo Irish Bank, actually performed disappointingly in light of the boost, dealers said, and it was 1.4 per down at 5pm.
In contrast, Kingspan, was moved out of the index, and it had gained 1.5 per cent by that time.
In London, the leading FTSE 100 index was was down 14.6 points at 6053.5.
A rally in airline stocks, including Ryanair, boosted European equities for the third day in a row. Overall the Dow Jones Stoxx 600, which benchmarks leading shares in western Europe's markets, has gained 1.2 per cent this week to 322.61.
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