Bank holiday fails to curb trading enthusiasm

Trade was brisk on the Iseq yesterday, with the arrival of the Bank Holiday weekend doing little to dampen activity.

Eircom was once again the busiest stock on the market, with almost 27 million shares changing hands. Dealers said buyers were mostly long funds looking to buy in for Eircom's attractive yield, while hedge funds were among the sellers.

Shares in Eircom finished at €1.69, up four cent. The stock was also notably busy in London.

Moody's, a rating agency, yesterday affirmed its rating on Eircom's owner, Valentia, in the wake of its agreement to buy Meteor for €420 million. The agency will however continue to monitor Eircom in areas such as its application for a 3G licence.

The financials were mostly quiet, with the exception of Bank of Ireland, where three million shares changed hands. Its shares fell by 15 cent to €13.72.

AIB also declined, losing five cent to end the session at €17.85. The bank is due to report interim numbers under new accounting standards IFRS on Wednesday.

Anglo Irish was particularly quiet, closing unchanged at €11.10. Irish Life & Permanent shed 10 cent to close at €14.90.

CRH did well for most of the day before losing some ground in the late afternoon. The firm closed at €23.35, down 15 cent, having touched €23.69 in earlier trade.

Elsewhere, a new analysis from Merrion suggests Ryanair could absorb a sustained $60 oil price more effectively than its competitors.

The market is expecting an upbeat statement from the airline when it releases quarterly results on Tuesday.

Its shares added 12 cent yesterday, closing at €6.70.

Jurys Doyle had its busiest day in weeks yesterday, as investors reacted to Precinct's latest approach at €17.50.

Shares in the hotel group gained 70 cent to finish at €16.30.

IAWS strengthened again, rising by 29 cent to €12.02 on positive market sentiment. Greencore also climbed, adding 14 cent to end at €3.67.