ISEQ in mediocre form as market leaders struggle

Dublin Report: The small caps were the only winners as a group yesterday as the ISEQ shed over 14 points in unspectacular volume.

The leaders, with CRH to the fore, suffered. The building materials group gave up 30 cents, or 1.37 per cent, to close on €21.65. Traders said the stock opened nervously in the morning and never really regained its footing as the day progressed.

The leading banks were also struggling to advance, although trade in AIB was particularly light. It ended the day unchanged on €16.10, after staging a late afternoon recovery from a low of €15.90.

Bank of Ireland fared worse, slipping nine cents on the session to close on €12.87, although that was again an improvement on its early afternoon level of €12.71.

Anglo Irish Bank, however, continued to find buyers, adding a further seven cents to end the day on €20.30, another closing high. Irish Life & Permanent was five cents firmer on €14.65 in light trade.

Among the industrials, Fyffes was the story of the day, running 10 cents ahead to €2.18 despite its ongoing battle with DCC in the High Court. The shares rose steadily through the morning, before putting on a spurt after lunch. The shares traded as high as €2.20 at one point before coming back slightly.

Almost seven million shares changed hands, with activity especially heavy in the mid-afternoon. Dealers said there was no particular news driving the share yesterday.

DCC was 29 cents of 1.6 per cent weaker on the day, though business was light. The stock closed on €18.01.

Eircom was hit by profit-taking after its recent advances. The telecoms group gave up two cents to €2.12 at the end of the day, having dipped as low as €2.10 earlier.

Exploration minnow Ovoca added another two cents to 13 cents yesterday and is now trading almost 70 per cent higher than a week ago.

Dealers said the move has been on light volume with no noticeable driver.