Wall Street's late surge to a new high on Monday night did not generate any knock-on buying on international markets, and most investors seem to use the Dow's move into record territory as an excuse to take profits out of the recent rise in the markets.
Overall, however, with megamergers now a daily occurrence, the direction of the markets remains firmly upward - punctuated by bouts of profit taking.
The restructuring announced by Smurfit Stone contained little detail and merely confirmed what analysts had expected in terms of capacity reduction and cost savings. The main factor behind the 10p rise by Smurfit to 135p was International Paper's $6.6 billion for Union Camp, a move that should speed up the process of rationalisation in the US packaging sector.
Smurfit Stone was trading $1 1/2 higher above $14 in heavy volumes as the Irish market closed.
Otherwise, profit-taking dragged most stocks lower and AIB dealt down 27p to £10.50 despite hitting £10.90 in early trading. Bank of Ireland was unchanged on £14 while Anglo Irish Bank - which had a strong run ahead of yesterday's results - was hit by the profit-takers who sold the shares down 8p to 179p. First Active was 10p higher on 350p although prospective merger partners Irish Life and Irish Permanent were both marginally easier.
Elan was nearly $1 lower on Nasdaq as it disclosed that phase three studies of its latest nicotine patch do not warrant a new drug application filing with the FDA.
Results from Athlone Extrusions failed to excite the market and the shares drifted 1p easier to 69p. Ovoca remains the star turn of the market and was up another 7p to 50p. Isn't it time for some sort of explanation for a share price that has nearly doubled in the past two weeks?
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