A better day generally for the Irish market given the weaker tone overseas. But with investors increasingly reluctant to trade on fears of potential Y2K complications in settling deals, trading volumes are decreasing daily as the market shuts down for Christmas

Still, some of the industrials had a much better day, with Eircom moving ahead 20 cents to €4.20 (£3.31) although there were indications of offers of stock emerging at that closing level. Eircom's future progress will depend on whether dealers believes that British Telecom or another European telecom is a bidder for the KPN stake, and at these levels the market seems to believe that the KPN stake will go to a trade buyer and thus not overhang the market.

Esat's confirmation that it has had approaches from third parties since the Telia/Telenor bid emerged underpinned the share on NASDAQ where the share was trading over $2 higher above $82 (€81.01) at the Irish close. Whether it's Telia/Telenor or another telecom, the betting is that the eventual take-out price for Esat will be well north of last night's $82.

Leading financials and industrials were generally lower, with AIB down 10 cents on €11.95 (£9.41) while CRH drifted 17 cents lower on €18.73 (£14.75). Smurfit, one of the best stocks of the year, remained firm and added 5 cents to €2.85 (£2.24) with investors looking to another linerboard price increase in the new year. Second-liners to gain included Golden Vale - up 7 cents to €1.07 (£0.84) and Ryanair - up 10 cents to €10.30 (£8.11).

Trintech investors are learning just how volatile the technology sector is and after all the huge gains of the past couple weeks, Trintech fell heavily on NASDAQ to trade over $7 lower on $46.50 (€45.93) at the Dublin close. Earlier on the Neuer Markt, Trintech shares fell €6.55 to €46.45 (36.58) - although trading volumes were generally light.