The flotation of 25 per cent of educational software company Riverdeep provided the main interest on the Irish stock market yesterday as the shares soared by more than 200 per cent. The shares, which were issued at #3.48, hit a high of #11 as investors piled in, before slipping back slightly to close at #9.20.

Overall, the Irish market closed slightly lower, with most of the leading stocks confined to a narrow range.

AIB was unchanged at #8.50, Bank of Ireland was seven cents lower at #6.03 while Irish Life & Permanent closed 11 cents do wn at the sterling equivalent of #7.89 as news of the Deutsche/Dresdner bank merger failed to inject any life into the lacklustre sector.

Smurfit was active, gaining four cents to #2.19, but CRH's slippage continued with the shares ending six cents lower at #17.84.

Eircom, supported by the strong performance of BT in London, added nine cents to #4.70.

Among those releasing results was Grafton, which gained 25 cents to #24.75 after announcing a 35 per cent increase in pre-tax profits last year. IAWS shares also got a boost from results, gaining 32 cents to #6.22 on foot of an 18 per cent rise in interim profits.

Fyffes did not fare so well, however, slipping 30 cents to #3.20.

On the Nasdaq, Baltimore shares were up by more than 4 per cent by the Dublin close after the company announced it had bought its associate, NSJ Corporation, to secure its foothold in the buoyant Japanese market.