Iseq shares give mixed performance

Dublin report:Activity picked up in the Irish market yesterday, with dealers reporting decent interest in several stocks as the day progressed.

The direction of the movement however was mixed, with the gainers winning through to push the Iseq marginally higher.

Total Produce, which has performed poorly since being spun off from Fyffes last week, put in some good gains yesterday, rising 8.8 per cent, making it the biggest percentage gainer of the day. In value terms however, this equates to a gain of only 6 cent, bringing the total value of each share to 74 cent.

Meanwhile, Fyffes disappointed following a very strong performance over the past week. The shares rose as high as €1.19 before falling back to close 2 cent, or 1.7 per cent down on Monday's close, at €1.13.

Elsewhere, Anglo Irish outperformed the other financials, adding 23 cent, or 1.5 per cent, to close at €15.73. More than 3.7 million shares changed hands.

Its rivals ended unchanged or in negative territory. Ferry group Irish Continental rose 35 cent, or 2.4 per cent, to end the day at €14.80, a move dealers attributed to the expected increase in traffic following the closure of the Swansea to Cork ferry service.

Ryanair also put in a good performance, with more than 4.7 million shares trading. The stock ended the day up 18 cent, or 1.7 per cent, at €11.01 after the company announced the introduction of two new services from Dublin to Poland and increased frequencies on several other routes.

Meanwhile, Paddy Power added 60 cent, or 3.9 per cent, to close at €16. Dealers reported significant interest in the stock since the Christmas break, but said that yesterday's gains were most likely related to a positive update expected from UK rival William Hill today.

Settlement Date: January 12th