Elan and CRH make good gains in a weak market

Market report:THE ISEQ index of Irish shares just squeaked into positive territory yesterday, after a day that dealers said was very much a mixed bag. "It was weak early and the market sold, but it rallied during the day and just crawled above positive at the end of the day," one trader said.

One of the surprise star performers was home lender Irish Life Permanent, which issued a downbeat trading statement in the morning, but still ended the day 45 cent up at €9.20, a gain of 5.14 per cent.

More than 1.6 million shares in the bank were sold in Dublin yesterday. The rally began in the afternoon. Dealers said a conference call after lunch helped clarify a number of issues for investors.

The other banks were a good deal weaker. Bank of Ireland's price barely budged, notching up a 1.6 cent gain to close at €6.576. Around 4.3 million shares changed hands. AIB took a lot of punishment, shedding 34.3 cent to close at €10.407, with investors offloading four million shares in Dublin. The day wiped 3.19 per cent off its value.

After being sold to the point where it lost almost 6 per cent on Wednesday, CRH made a comeback yesterday, adding 75 cent to close at €18.90.

Dealers say there was no particular reason other than the fact that there was one big seller on Wednesday, while yesterday a number of investors reckoned the price represented a bit of value.

Elan remained popular with investors, adding 74 cent to close at €19.84, a gain of 3.87 per cent. The company recently announced that it is making progress with its Alzheimer's treatment, a drug with the potential to generate billions of dollars.

The sunshine is not benefiting cider maker CC. Investors displayed no thirst at all for the stock yesterday, and it closed over 8 per cent down at €4.45.

Settlement date: June 24th