MARKET REPORT: The Irish stock market notched up further gains yesterday, closing nearly 1.6 per cent higher despite the late opening on Wall Street. Trading was subdued as most markets focused on the commemoration ceremonies for the September 11th attacks with dealers describing trading as "patchy".

Settlement Date: September 16th

However, banking stocks again drew buying interest, with AIB closing 20 cents higher at €13.03, Bank of Ireland up 40 cents at €11.70, while Irish Life & Permanent gained 60 cents to €12.95.

Leading industrial stocks were more subdued, with CRH adding only six cents to €14.90, while Ryanair shares finished five cents lower at €5.80 as the airline said it had applied for membership of the FTSE 100 now that British Airways has been dropped.

Galen gained a further 16 cents to €7.25, despite confirming further delays to the planning process for a new manufacturing plant in Co Louth.

Kingspan shares closed five cents higher at €2.10 as the company bought back more than a million shares at €2.00 per share.

In a sign of the times, Heiton also entered the market to purchase 315,225 shares, at a price of €2.45 per share. The buyback failed to lift the stock, which closed five cents lower at €2.45.

Technology stocks performed well, with Alphyra closing 12 cents higher at €1.20 as Bank of Ireland said it held 25 per cent of the stock in its nominee account on behalf of clients.

Iona Technologies added 50 cents to €2.65, while Horizon was up seven cents at €0.32.

More than three million Fyffes shares were traded as the stock added two cents to €1.45, while IAWS gained four cents to €7.75.