Bank of Ireland's half-year results might have been well signalled in the September pre-close statement but their release was enough to trigger some hefty buying of the stock. The figures were marginally ahead of consensus forecasts and there was a reassuring tone to the comments on current trading, which helped the shares jump 45 cents to €9.85 with almost 2.6 million shares trading.

AIB got a boost from the Bank of Ireland results and rose as high as €10.48 before closing up 13 cents on €10.20. Irish Life & Permanent was 15 cents lower on €12.54 - the group bought back and cancelled another 236,000 shares on Wednesday at €12.50 each.

Among the industrials, Ryanair lost 25 cents to €12.75 as Fidelity disclosed that it has cut its stake in the airline from around 10 per cent to 9.13 per cent. This suggests that Fidelity has sold about three million shares.

CRH drifted nine cents to €17.71 while Elan continued to recover from an oversold position and was up €2.35 in Dublin on €47.75. Later in New York, there was heavy trading in the stock.

Heiton gained seven cents to €2.37, the price at which it bought back and cancelled 326,760 shares. IAWS was six cents higher on €8.25 while Smurfit had a good day, gaining 12 cents to €2.40 on turnover of 1.4 million shares.

Selected technology shares had an excellent day, with the two e-learning groups Smartforce and Riverdeep benefiting from a shift in sentiment. By midday on Nasdaq, Smartforce was trading more than 10 per cent higher around $21 while Riverdeep was almost 8 per cent firmer on $25.80. Iona gained almost 4 per cent to $16.90.