Eircom remained the focus of investor attention on an otherwise dull Dublin markets day where there was little more than modest volume trading and small price movements.
Volume in Eircom tailed off after the huge trading on Wednesday, but there was still 1.7 million shares traded in Dublin as the share edged ahead 3 cents to €2.66. Dealers do not expect the share to move much beyond current levels until it becomes clear that a bid from other than the O'Reilly or O'Brien camps materialises.
Among the leaders, CRH was in good demand and closed up 25 cents on €18.35, while Bank of Ireland was 22 cents higher on €10.45. Irish Life lost 16 cents to €12.00 - the company disclosed yesterday that it bought back 527,800 shares at €12.10. AIB edged ahead two cents to €12.10.
Ryanair continued to move ahead and gained another 28 cents to €11.29, Marlborough did not trade from its overnight €0.50 with news of a management buyout approach coming too late to impact on the share. IAWS gained 18 cents to €7.25, while First Active was five cents higher on €2.70.
On overseas markets, Datalex took a tumble on Nasdaq and lost $1.10 to $4.85 in early trading involving just 2,100 shares. The best of the Irish shares was Smartforce which was up more than 5 per cent on $33.75 in midday New York trading.
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