MARKET REPORT: The Irish stock market had a good day yesterday, adding 1.2 per cent to its value on foot of a good performance by the leading banking stocks.

Dealers said the banks were driven by strength in the sector overseas and enjoyed decent volumes. AIB added 28 cents to €12.30, Bank of Ireland was up by 29 cents to €10.39 while Anglo Irish Bank added 21 cents to 8.50.

Bank of Ireland confirmed it had bought back 500,000 of its own shares at 10.12 per share on Wednesday and dealers said the 5.5 million shares traded between Dublin and London yesterday suggested it was back in the market again.

Otherwise, newsflow and volumes in Dublin were light. In the pharmaceutical sector, shares in Elan were unchanged at 4.35 ahead of today's deadline for filing its 2002 accounts with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fellow drugmaker Galen added a modest two cents to €8.62 as concerns about generic threats to its key drugs overshadowed strong third-quarter results. NCB became the latest broker to express concern about the generic issues facing the company, downgrading the stock from hold to reduce to reflect the risk profile of many of the company's key revenue drivers.

Other movers on the day included CRH, which closed 14 cents higher at 15.94 and DCC, which gained 23 cents to 10.50. Ryanair shares had a quiet day, adding just two cents to 6.01 as investors digested the recent first quarter results.

More than 1.5 million Fyffes shares were traded although the stock was up just one cent to 1.59. Grafton gave up some of Wednesday's strong gains, closing 10 cents lower at 4.30.