Dublin Report: Volumes were light in the Irish market yesterday on what dealers described as quiet day of trading. However, the Iseq still managed to advance, ending the first week of the year at another record.

Eircom provided some excitement in early trading as a rumour swept the market that the telecoms group had yet again become a bid target. This time the names linked with company were US telecoms group Sprint, Ireland's Smart Telecom and a separate consortium of private funds, dealers said.

The news caused the share price to jump by as much as 12 cent initially, though it came back in the afternoon to end the day up three cent at €2.05. More than four million shares changed hands in Dublin and a further 8.8 million in London.

Ryanair also kept investors on their toes, dropping four cent in early trading after one broker issued a negative note on the airline industry. The stock rebounded to end the day up seven cent at 8.10 after the company's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, gave a very upbeat speech at an investor conference in New York.

Dealers said that Greencore also benefited from comments made at the conference. Its shares rose 10 cent to close at €3.54.

Elsewhere, DCC added 27 cent to end the day at €18.50, while IAWS was up 20 cent, at €12.75.

Bank of Ireland was also among the winners, rising 14 cent to close at €13.92, although the other financials fared less well.

Things were less positive for Tullow Oil, which ended the day down seven cent, at €4.14. The company announced that it had signed an agreement to take a 15 per cent stake in an exploration field in Angola that borders on another site where the group last month drilled two dry wells.

Irish Life & Permanent was another loser, dropping 8 cent, to close at €16.77.

Meanwhile, drinks and snacks maker C&C took its first fall of the year, slipping two cent to end the day at €5.58 after rising ahead of positive trading data.