The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up a modest 18.56 points yesterday at 5,478.92, following what one analyst described as a "rather dull day" of trading. On the day of Eircom's eventful a.g.m at the RDS, the stock traded up four cents at €2.68 defying the continuing fall-off in support for telecoms stocks in Europe. Traders said the upward trend in the stock could reflect some relief that the a.g.m. was finally over but a full recovery to flotation levels is not expected until partners KPN and Telia decide to sell their stake in the company.

There was some interest in the financials with AIB adding 16 cents to close at €10.80 and Irish Life & Permanent shedding 25 cents of its recent gains to close at €10.70.

News that First Active chairman, Mr John Callaghan, had bought more than 60,000 shares in the company at an average of €1.97 probably came too late in the day to lift the stock, which closed unchanged at €1.90.

CRH tested the €18 level on several occasions as the stock continued to suffer from its share issue earlier this week. The stock shed five cents to close at €18.05.

Elsewhere, Ryanair suffered from the fall-out caused by higher oil prices and shed 38 cents at €8.10. Grafton continued its strong recent run, adding 50 cents at €24.50 and Bula added eight cents to close at €0.59 on thin volumes.

As the Dublin exchange closed, Trintech, which acquired Sursoft, a Latin American card management software company, for $10.7 million, was down by 1.2 per cent in New York at just over $25.