Investors take late interest in second-line stocks

Dublin Report: Second-line stocks put on a bit of a spurt towards the end of the session yesterday as the Dublin market broadly tracked its European peer group.

Fyffes, Grafton, Greencore and United Drug all found themselves in demand towards the end of a reasonably active session.

Fyffes continued to benefit from its bullish trading statement about its first-half performance and prospects for the rest of the year on Wednesday. The shares hit €2.50 at one point before profit-taking took them back to €2.47, a three-cent rise to add to the 121-cent gain on Wednesday.

United Drug got a boost from news of its latest acquisition in the UK. The pharmaceuticals product distributor has paid £2.9 million for a chromatography lab supplies group Presearch - with a possible £600,000 earn-out depending on performance. The shares closed three cent stronger on €3.55.

Grafton and Greencore both had good days, each adding 12 cent to €9.58 and €3.60 respectively.

Among the financials, AIB was again the centre of attention following its latest elevation to the Eurostoxx 50. The shares slipped 10 cent to €17.70 with more than three million shares changing hands.

Elsewhere, it was a good day for the financial sector, with Bank of Ireland adding 1.28 per cent or 17 cent to €13.42 and Anglo Irish Bank doing even better to close on €10.25, up 20 cents or 1.99 per cent.

Irish Life & Permanent slipped a little, ending the day on €14.47, down three cent.

Independent News & Media retreated slightly as rival Trinity Mirror offered a far less optimistic picture of the UK market than the Irish group had done a day earlier.

The shares slipped throughout the day and ended off two cent on €2.55 in decent volume.

Eircom was moving the other way, adding six cent or almost 3.4 per cent in a session where it was the most traded stock by volume. More than 14 million shares moved.

Settlement Date: July 5th