Market Report: Shares were lifted by a strong showing on international markets in early trade but closed off their highs as Wall Street fell on continued fears of higher US interest rates.

CRH, which has benefited of late from the recovery in the dollar and good soundings about the construction industry in important markets like Britain and the US, turned in a strong performance.

The building materials company added 48 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to €18.25, having traded as high as €18.45 earlier in the day.

The banks also made progress, helped by the positive sentiment in the market.

AIB and Bank of Ireland added 13 cents each to €12.73 and €10.63 respectively while Irish Life & Permanent was up eight cents to €13.80. However, Anglo Irish Bank closed unchanged at €13.45

Kerry was one of the few stocks to close lower yesterday, shedding six cents to €16.30 as it gave up some ground after a recent strong run.

Elsewhere in the food sector, there was good volume in Fyffes with nearly seven million shares traded, although the stock closed unchanged at €1.64.

Donegal Creameries, which reported a 2 per cent rise in pre-tax profit earlier this week, added a further 35 cents to €4.50.

Elan continued its onward march, gaining 69 cents to €19.89. In New York, it also gained ground and was up 38 cents to $23.53 by the Irish close.

Galen shares also closed higher at €12.11, up seven cents on the day.

Gresham shares added five cents to €1.25 after a consortium of investors announced a revised approach at €1.30 per share, provided it received 54 per cent acceptances of any offer made.

Peer Jurys Doyle rose 12 cents to €10.50.

Shares in Ardagh were eight cents higher at €1.20 after it released 2003 results showing it made a trading loss of €1.03 million last year.

Ryanair closed lower, off two cents to €4.95