THE Dublin market was relatively quiet yesterday with dealers reporting very thin volume trading.
The banks remained in good demand, pushing AIB up 3p to 352p while Bank of Ireland gained 3p to close at 455p.
On the back of better-than-expected results this week, Irish Permanent gained 5p to reach a new high of 415p. Irish Life, however, eased a penny to 239p and Woodchester was unchanged at 180p.
Investors also showed some interest in the leading industrials, CRH and Smurfit. Following a number of small trades, CRH dealt down 5p to 620p. Smurfit also lost ground, moving back 2p from 170p to 168p.
Among the second liners, Grafton Group continued its recent good run, hitting a new high of 680p, up 20p on its previous closing level. The group, which reported a 74 per cent rise in pre-tax profit, has made substantial gains since, rising from 625p to 680p in the past week.
Irish Continental shed 20p in Dublin yesterday, to 490p, despite news that the group's seasonal loss in the first half of the year has fallen from £3.17 million to £1.94 million.
Independent lost 2p on the day to 290p, while Jurys dropped 5p to 285p. Norish made good ground adding 5p to 75p, while Waterford Wedgewood was up 1 1/2p to 75p.
In the food sector, Avonmore gained 4p to 150p, Fyffes notched up a penny to 103p, while Greencore put on 2p to 312p. Kerry moved up 2p to 599p and Golden Vale gained a penny to 59p. In the exploration sector, Tullow moved up a penny to 106p, Ovoca was unchanged at 20p and Bula remained at 3p while Arcon lost 2p to 30p.
