The Irish stock market made modest gains, ending some 25 points higher, despite a mixed performance from the leading shares. The ISEQ index of shares closed at 5,937.72, its highest level to date this year and within sight of a lifetime high of 5,970.69.
Eircom, Elan and Ryanair were among the stocks to put in a good performance. Eircom closed six cents or 2.3 per cent higher at €2.63 in the wake of the bid approach from entrepreneur Denis O'Brien's eIsland consortium.
Ryanair gained 16 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to €12.26, boosted by strong demand ahead of today's share placing, dealers said.
Elan was up 80 cents at €59.30, while in New York it had added 1.8 per cent to $54.97 by the close of business in Dublin.
Other stocks to perform well included Riverdeep, which gained more than 13 per cent as the market welcomed second-quarter results showing a fivefold increase in revenues, ahead of analysts' forecasts. The shares ended 55 cents higher at €4.70. However, the stock had a more muted performance on the Nasdaq, where it was down 25 US cents at $24.62-1/2 by the time the Dublin market closed.
Irish banking stocks did not fare as well as their counterparts elsewhere, turning in losses for the second day in a row. AIB lost 11 cents to €12.53, Bank of Ireland was down three cents at €10.29 while Anglo Irish Bank shed five cents to €3.73.
Other stocks to lose ground included CRH, which was down nearly 0.9 per cent at €20 amid profit-taking. Greencore closed two cents lower at €2.85, although the news that chairman Mr Bernie Cahill was stepping down came after the market had closed.
