Irish shares opened strongly yesterday, with financial stocks leading an early morning charge, driven by bullish London bank prices. Analysts said enthusiasm flagged in the afternoon due mainly to profit taking. "There was an amazing flurry of activity at the start, and some of that held through to the afternoon," one dealer said.

"The banks are still very much in demand, and there have been heavy volumes of stock transacted," another commented.

Analysts agreed that the driving force behind the popularity of Irish financial shares was the surge in London's FTSE index, where much of the gain has been made by British banks.

The two big Irish banks reached new highs in heavy morning trade. AIB touched 600p before falling back to 583p by the close, down 7p. Bank of Ireland soared to 840p, then slipped somewhat, ending the day at 826p, up 6p.

Anglo Irish Bank also rose from its start of 90p, ending the day on a sterling deal the equivalent of around 93 1/2p.

Elsewhere in the financial sector, Irish Life also saw interest, rising steadily in the morning from its base of 365p before shedding some of its gains to close at 368p. Irish Permanent was unchanged at 660p.

Of the main industrial shares, Smurfit attracted most interest. Analysts said the results of Jefferson Smurfit Corporation in the US, which showed a $4 million (£2.6 million) loss for the second quarter, including a $1 million tax provision, were better than expected, given the current problems in the paper industry. the share price finished the session up 6p, at 221p. CRH also saw heavy trading, and climbed 15p to finish at 690p.

In the food sector, Waterford Foods remained unchanged at 160p, while Avonmore, with whom it is to merge, rose 5p to 295p. Kerry also climbed 5p, closing at 620p, while Golden Vale rose 2p to 79p. Greencore was unchanged at 325p.

Waterford Wedgwood rose 3p to end on 91p, while Clondalkin climbed 5p to end at 645p.