The Irish stock market continued its advance into record territory, closing at another high after receiving a boost from building materials group CRH.

Dealers said CRH made good progress for the third day in a row, gaining 38 cents or 1.8 per cent to #21.32, mainly driven by overseas buying interest. This was prompted by upbeat notes from a number of US brokers, who believe the company will benefit from increased funding for the US road building programme, dealers said.

In Dublin, Elan gained 25 cents to #62.25 and the stock was up by 1.5 per cent in early New York trading, helped by positive recent comments about a joint-venture product to treat Alzheimer's disease. Elsewhere in the pharmaceutical sector, Galen gained 45 cents to #15. Eircom was unchanged on #1.14.

In the banking sector, there were mixed fortunes. AIB added 35 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to #13.32 but Bank of Ireland did not fare as well, losing 16 cents to #10.99 amid profit-taking. However, dealers said plans by Morgan Stanley to change the design of its equity indices, used as a benchmark by many international funds, could boost Bank of Ireland stock if it were included under the new methodology.

The US broker is to extend coverage of each market from 60 per cent to 85 per cent. Other Irish stocks that could benefit, according to Goodbody Stockbrokers, are IAWS, Kingspan, Riverdeep and Ryanair.

However, Morgan Stanley's decision to adjust weightings to take account of the free float of companies included in its indices could affect a number of Irish firms such as Eircom, Iona and Waterford Wedgwood.

Morgan Stanley is due to announce the new constituents of the index over the weekend.