Eircom trading flurry is the exception on slow day

There was an air of summer on the Iseq yesterday as volumes eased off and price movements were limited.

Eircom was an exception on the volume side, where nearly 3.3 million shares changed hands. Trade in the stock was even heavier in London, where a single trade of 18 million shares, or 2.3 per cent of the company, was recorded.

The firm, which is trying to buy mobile operator Meteor, closed unchanged at €1.84.

Jurys provided the biggest buzz in Dublin yesterday as Precinct made a third takeover approach to the company at €16.50. The move came after the market closed, with Jurys shares finishing five cent weaker at €15.65.

Tullow was also in the news after reporting that it had posted record trading in the first half. The oil and gas firm closed at 189p in London, down 2p.

Unidare posted the biggest drop of the day, falling €2.35 to €1.90 on the back of a shareholder payout.

In the financials, AIB weakened again, despite positive analyst comment on Tuesday's strong results from the bank's 23 per cent US holding, M &T. It closed at €17.68, down seven.

The other banks were mixed, with Bank of Ireland climbing 15 cent to €13.52, Anglo falling by three cent to €10.46 and Irish Life & Permanent down one cent to €14.39.

DCC was one of the market's strongest performers, with shares adding 29 cent to finish at €17.94. Dealers said investors had been focusing on last week's solid trading update.

Kingspan, which strengthened after updating the market on trading on Tuesday, fell 10 cent to €10.55. Most analysts have raised their guidance on the stock.

Grafton also lost ground, dropping seven cent to €8.73. CRH gained 20 cent to close at €21.99. The firm was upgraded by Goodbody yesterday, with the broker now holding a price target of €26 on the stock. Abbey, which will issue final results today, was unchanged at €9.65.