Market Report: The market was in soggy form yesterday, with volumes limited by a general air of nervousness, writes Una McCaffrey.

Eircom was the most obvious exception, with more than five million shares traded in a range between €1.39 and €1.41. Shares in the telecoms firm closed unchanged at €1.40, with dealers remarking that some investors were simply cutting their losses, while new buyers saw appeal in the current level.

Gresham was busy for the second day in a row, as investors took a bet on the company being bought out at €1.35 rather than €1.30 per share. The firm closed at €1.32 after 4.7 million shares were traded. Shareholders are due to receive an offer document from Precinct tomorrow.

Greencore did well after meeting expectations with interim results. Shares in the food group added two cents to close at €2.98, with chief executive Mr David Dilger among the buyers.

Kerry shed some of the previous day's gains by falling 15 cents to €16.85. The firm was upbeat on its 2004 performance at yesterday's a.g.m. in Tralee.

C&C dropped two cents to its float price of €2.26 as Merrion branded the stock a "hold". The broker notes the attractive yield on offer but detects "limited upside" on the share price.

Elan climbed by eight cents to €18.05 after saying it had applied to the US regulator for a licence to market Antegren for multiple sclerosis.

Galen was a notably poor performer in London as it fell 42p to 720p on no obvious news.

The banks were quiet for the most part, with Bank of Ireland the busiest as it fell one cent to €9.92. AIB lost seven cents to finish at €11.72, while Anglo Irish shed 10 to close at €12.90.

Ryanair was weak as investors eyed the continued volatility on the oil markets. Shares fell 14 cents to €4.39.

Irish Continental was under pressure for the same reason, dropping 4.7 per cent to €10.58.

Kingspan was an outperformer in advance of tomorrow's a.g.m., adding 12 cents to finish at €4.68.