Financials main movers as market inches higher

Market Report: The market inched higher again yesterday, pushed ahead by the financials and a strong performance from a number of second-liners.

One of the best movers on the day was FBD, where shares rose by 69 cent to €22.35.

Dealers reported good volume at €20.20, with an estimated 525,000 shares thought to have crossed at this level. The vendor is likely to have been an institutional shareholder. Belgian bank, KBC, sold a 22 per cent stake in FBD last month.

Independent News & Media was also a firm performer, closing four cent higher at €2.53.

Volatility was the order of the day for Eircom, where shares were trading as high as €1.98 and as low as €1.93.

The stock ended the day unchanged at €1.97, as members of its share ownership programme ceased selling shares.

A "buy" recommendation from Goodbody Stockbrokers helped to boost demand for United Drug, where nearly two million shares changed hands. The pharmaceutical distributor finished six cent higher at €3.49

Elan was reasonably quiet in Dublin, as its shares fell by one cent to €2.99. The firm's partner in Tysabri, Biogen Idec, hinted strongly on Tuesday that the company would step up its acquisition activity in the near term. Analysts have in the past speculated on the possibility of Elan being acquired by its partner in the wake of the Tysabri controversy.

Elsewhere, Grafton shook off some of its recent weakness by gaining 12 cent to end the session at €9.17. Among the largest players, CRH added 27 cent to close at €20.66. Ryanair rose by three cent to €6.02.

In the banks, Anglo did well as it climbed by 18 cent to €19.90. AIB was nine cent higher at €16.38, while Bank of Ireland added 26 cent to close at €12.71.

Irish Life & Permanent rose by 15 cent to €13.90. Ulster Television meanwhile, recorded a sizeable jump, climbing by 55 cents to €7.60. The move came on very light volume.

Settlement Day:April 11th