Market Report: After a surprising start to the day which saw the Irish market buck the negative trend seen in the US overnight, things started to head downwards about lunchtime and continued in that direction for the rest of the day.

Volumes were mixed across the board, though one dealer reported seeing significant demand for some stocks after a lull last week.

One of the day's busiest stocks was Independent News & Media. Almost 15 million shares changed hands, compared with the normal daily average of just over 3 million as one dealer reported continued interest in the stock. The purchaser of the stock hasn't been identified, though some speculators are saying it may be entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, who in January announced he had bought 22.6 million shares in the newspaper group, equal to 3 per cent of its issued share capital.

The shares added 2 cent, or 0.8 per cent, to end the day at €2.57.

Elsewhere, Allied Irish was busy enough, with 2.5 million shares changing hands in Dublin. The stock dropped 22 cent, or 1.1 per cent, to close at €19.23.

The other financials did little of note, with Anglo ending the day 3 cent, or 0.2 per cent lower, at €13.20, while Bank of Ireland fell 5 cent, or 0.3 per cent, to €15.05.

Irish Life & Permanent also fell after a series of positive performances last week. The stock ended the day down 15 cent, or 0.8 per cent, at €19.35.

Tullow was up only slightly on the day despite delivering a very positive set of full-year results. The company also said the outlook for 2006 was strong and it didn't foresee any decline in gas and oil prices in the near future. The stock added 1 cent, or 0.2 per cent, to close at €5.06.

Recruitment group CPL Resources rose 5 cent, or 1.3 per cent, to €4.05 after announcing its first acquisition outside of Ireland. It bought placement agency Nursefinders in the UK for an undisclosed sum.

Datalex was unchanged at 84 cent after reporting a return to profit.