Dublin report:It was an uneventful day in the Irish market yesterday as the Iseq index shares closed marginally higher after a mixed performance from its constituents.

Building materials group CRH was one of the better performers, rising as much as 3.2 per cent early in the day before falling back to close 2.4 per cent, or 80 cent higher, at €34.90.

The stock benefited from positive news in the sector as British group Hanson confirmed it had agreed to an £8 billion (€11.6 billion) takeover by Germany's Heidelberg Cement.

C&C also had a good day, extending the gains it made on Monday as the market continued to digest the news that it had sold its soft drinks division to British group Britvic.

The shares added a further 1.3 per cent, or 16 cent, to end the day at €12.56.

Elsewhere, dealers reported good demand for Boundary Capital, the private equity vehicle headed by financier Niall McFadden, which made its market debut yesterday.

The shares, initially placed at €1, ended the day at €1.13 after earlier rising as high as €1.18.

Independent News & Media was again in demand, with traders reporting good two-way interest in the stock.

Almost 1.4 million units changed hands, a performance dealers described as "decent" for the first day of trading. The shares closed up 1 per cent to €3.76. The main financials, however, put in a lacklustre performance, with AIB ending the day unchanged at €22.40 despite 4.7 million units changing hands.

Irish Life & Permanent was an exception, adding 1.5 per cent, or 30 cent, to end the day at €20.

The group is holding its annual meeting later this week and is also due to release a trading update next week.