The ISEQ index of shares was up 15.90 points this lunchtime to 5,803.10 after a quiet morning's trading. The marginal improvement was in line with other European bourses as experts predicted a rally by tech stocks on the Nasdaq.
There were mixed fortunes for the main financials with AIB down 4 cents to euro 11.72 and Bank of Ireland up 10 cents to euro 10.35. Irish Life and Permanent was down 7 cents at euro 13.30.
Grafton group rose euro 1.25 to 31.75 after posting positive end-of-year results. Eircom was up 4 cents at euro 2.53. The construction sector suffered a slight decline as CRH was down 6 cents at euro 17.91, Heitons fell 5 cents to euro 3.73, Green dropped 5 cents to euro 8.05, McInerney slipped 2 cent to 2.67.Jurys was down 6 cents at euro 10.25.