Leading stocks do well in busy trading

Market Report:The second-last session before the Christmas break turned out be exceptionally busy, with leading stocks making good ground.

However, dealers warned that yesterday's closing prices are unlikely to hold out to Monday's finishing post. The Iseq added 1.8 per cent on the day, closing at 6,923.80. One dealer said that expiring futures and options distorted the market.

"There was a very strong close on Friday but we don't think it will hold on Monday," he said.

Bank of Ireland was one of the best performers on the day, adding 42 cents to close at €10.04, a jump of 4.37 per cent. Over 2.8 million shares were traded.

Irish Life & Permanent was less than a length behind, closing 34 cents up at €11.94, an increase of 2.93 per cent. Its volumes were reasonable, hitting 750,000 units.

AIB was off the pace set by its two rivals, but it gained 30 cents to close at €15.40, a 1.99 per cent boost to the price. Over 3.6 million shares in the stock changed hands in Dublin yesterday. Given the activity in the other financials, Anglo Irish Bank put in a muted performance, dropping 4.7 cent to close at €10.653.

Outside the banks, building materials heavyweight CRH put in a strong finish to a mixed week. Its stock increased by 73.2 cent to close at €24.154 on the back of trades totalling 2.85 million shares. In the same sector, Grafton added 8.6 cent to close at €5.386, a gain of 1.62 per cent.

One of the year's big stories, Irish Continental Group, shed 55 cents to close at €21.25, a fall of 2.52 per cent. However, volumes were small.

Bookmaker Paddy Power, a certainty to benefit from Christmas racing and football, dropped 15 cents to close at €22.95. Another faller was food ingredients group, Kerry, which dropped 25 cents to end at €22.30.