AFTER the strong gains of the past few days, the Irish market paused for breath yesterday despite yet another strong early performance from Wall Street where the Dow was up over 50 points by the time the Irish market closed.
The main loser among the financials was AIB which was down around 11p on 491 1/2p, while Bank of Ireland was unchanged on 744p after turning in full year results in line with analysts' forecasts.
Best of the financials was Irish Permanent which dealt in some size to close up 15p on a new high of 650p. Irish Life was 1p firmer on 350p while Woodchester was 3p easier on 285p.
Among the industrials, most attention was on Greencore as the European Commission imposed a £6.6 million fine which will be provided for in the interim results due in three weeks time. Greencore shares initially fell 22p to 320p but recovered slightly to close down 17p on the day on 325p.
CRH was 4 1/2p firmer on 682 1/2p while DCC continued its strong run after its good results and closed up 10p on 365p.
Among second liners, Irish Continental - one of the best performers so far this year - jumped another 25p to 750p. The share has risen from 410p since the beginning of the year.
Kerry was 10p higher on 665p, Smurfit was fractionally higher on 173p, while Tullow gained 2p to 101p. Tuskar closed on 534p sterling after placing £4.7 million worth of new shares with British and Irish institutions.
