THIS WEEK IN THE MARKETS

IT MAY have been well leaked beforehand, put the £213 million Tilcon acquisition by CRH and continued good interim results from the larger plc's gave the market a strong boost.

Yesterday's non farm payroll figures from the US, however, did not augur well for US interest rates and if Wall Street takes a dive ahead of a possible rise in Fed rates, then even its fundamental attractions will not leave the Irish market immune.

CRH had no obvious need to issue new equity to fund the Tilcon deal, but with the market apparently expecting a fundraising, CRH did a £101 million placing.

This will leave CRH in a strong financial position even after paying the net (post disposals) £156 million of buying Tilcon, with gearing of little more than 40 per cent and interest covered eight times.

CRH's half year results did little to divert attention from the Tilcon acquisition, and were the usual mixed bag of good results from some regions countering weakness in others.

Waterford Wedgwood produced a bumper set of first half results which have underpinned the shares at their current levels. Later results from Royal Doulton have only served to confirm the view that the luxury tabletop industry is going through a growth period, from which the new slimline Waterford Wedgwood should benefit.

The leading shares were also in demand in the latter half of the week, and held most of their gains yesterday despite the US employment figures. Bank of Ireland, in particular, was the focus of some heavy trading although AIB and Irish Life also dealt in size.

With interest rates possibly on the way up again, the EBS - the one building society that has given an express commitment not to raise its rate - gave a strong indication that the competition for mortgage lending will remain intense.

Despite quarter point rises by most of the mortgage lenders, the EBBS has decided to hold its lending rates while increasing deposit rates a quarter point.

This is costing the EBS £800,000 in margins but is an indication that the society will use its mutual status to retain - and possibly grow - its market share at the expense of profits.

Unidare shares predictably took a dive after the previous week's profits warning, but not before it emerged that Mr Dermot Desmond's IIU had been in the market to increase its Unidare stake to 10 per cent. Most institutions are sellers of Unidare - given the company's history of profit warnings and dismal result - and few in the market understand the IIU strategy.

Finally, Tullow went through one of its periodic bouts of being the market's favourite bid target.