MARKET REPORT

Settlement Day - June 11th: Dublin saw brisk trading yesterday as the market re-opened following the bank holiday and played catch-up with the strong performance in the US markets overnight.

Volumes were strong although most stocks traded in a fairly narrow range.

Ryanair produced a strong performance, giving up just 16 cents, or 3.4 per cent, a day after EasyJet issued a profit warning that saw it surrender 24 per cent of its value at one stage, later rallying to close down 18 per cent. The British airline was 2.45 per cent weaker yesterday.

Ryanair closed at €4.53, with dealers saying the worst appeared to be behind it.

Chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary is currently hosting a series of meetings with analysts and institutions in which he is giving a more upbeat message than recently.

Elsewhere the main activity was in the financials. Traders reported some switching from Bank of Ireland to AIB in the afternoon, though both traded in relatively tight ranges. Each ended three cents stronger on the day - AIB at €12.23 and Bank of Ireland at €10.63.

The smaller financials also made ground following comments from the chiefs of Britain's Lloyds TSB and Barclays that a relaxation of bank merger rules was required to stop the advance of foreign ownership of British banks.

Such relaxation, seen as unlikely in the short term, would facilitate domestic mergers.

Irish Life & Permanent closed 18 cents firmer at €12.85 while Anglo Irish continued its recent rally to advance 24 cents to €13.10, not far from the €13.30 level that has triggered sellers recently.

CRH had a quiet day, slipping two cents to €17.23, with 1.3 million shares changing hands.

Among the second-liners, Glanbia rose around 5 per cent or 11 cents to €2.36 while Greencore fell back six cents to €3.03.

DCC found a few buyers, climbing 22 cents to €13.62 in light volume.