Market report: The Irish market ended the day in positive territory again yesterday, boosted by positive performances from the financials and a general uplift in overall sentiment.

One trader said people are starting to move back into equities again after a lull last week.

Wednesday's exchequer report, showing that the Government's financial position is better than the Department of Finance had forecast, helped sentiment in the banks, which in turn dragged the whole market higher, another trader said. The Iseq rose 44 points to 6,730.98.

Irish Life & Permanent had an excellent day, jumping 35 cent, or 2.4 per cent, to close at €15.20.

Anglo Irish also attracted significant attention, ending the day up 12 cent at €11.45.

Meanwhile AIB rose nine cent to end the day at €17.43, and Bank of Ireland added five cent to close at €12.85.

After its day in the limelight yesterday, things calmed down slightly for Eircom, though trading was still heavy. The stock slipped seven cent, or 2.9 per cent, to €2.33 after Swisscom emerged as the potential suitor for the Irish telecoms group.

However the Swiss company is still refusing to confirm it has made an approach. Eircom said on Wednesday it had received an approach that may lead to it being bought, though declined to name the potential buyer.

Trading was also strong in Ryanair, which ended the day down 10 cent at €7.15.

The airline yesterday announced a new daily route from Dublin to Riga, Latvia. It also said that its load factor, the number of seats filled on each plane, fell to 85 per cent in October from 87 per cent a year earlier.

The company is due to release interim results on Monday and one trader said positive numbers were already being priced into the stock.

Reverting to the day's winners, building materials group CRH extended its recent increases to end the day up 14 cent, at €22.03.

Settlement Day: November 8th