Eircom was yet again the story of the day yesterday with large trades on both sides of the water. Still, confirmation from Swisscomm that it was in talks with Eircom on a possible takeover deal did little to boost the stock.

One trader said the fact that no other bidder had expressed an interest in the Irish telecommunications group was bad news as no competition implied a lower takeover price. The reported indicative offer price of more than €2.40 a share would value Eircom at €2.6 billion.

More 16 million shares changed hands in Dublin, with a further 32.5 million traded in London. The stock however ended the day down, slipping 1 cent to €2.31.

C&C was also in the limelight after yet more positive news on the takeup of its Magners cider in the UK. A report by market research group AC Nielson showed that the Irish drinks and snacks maker has taken almost 20 per cent of the London cider market.

Traders said this can only be seen as positive news for the rollout of the beverage, which trades as Bulmers in the Republic, to other parts of the UK. The stock added 4 cent to end the day at €5.25.

Building materials group CRH was also strong, ending the day up 9 cents at €22.14.

Elsewhere trading was patchy, with a poor performance from the financials contributing little to the ISEQ's 5.65 gain.

There was some volume in Allied Irish, though the stock lost 5 cent to end the day at €17.25. Meanwhile trading was quiet in Bank of Ireland, which dropped 4 cent to close at €12.75.

Anglo Irish fell 5 cent to €11.34, while Irish Life & Permanent had an equally negative day, dropping 7 cent to end the day at €15.43.

Jurys Doyle added 10 cent to close at €18.90 as it emerged that property developer Sean Dunne had sold his 28 per cent holding in the hotelier to JDH Acquisitions, the consortium bidding to buy the group.