Dublin Report: Kingspan was the star performer on the Irish stock market yesterday, gaining more than 3 per cent following the release of better-than-expected results.

Shares in the building materials company closed 28 cent higher at €8.84 as brokers set about upgrading their forecasts for the company.

Kingspan's broker, Goodbody, said it was increasing its 2005 forecasts by about 3 per cent as it upgraded the stock to a "buy" from an "add" and set a 12-month share price target of €10.00.

"They were great results and there was just a very positive outlook from them," one trader said.

Elan also had a good day after its recent woes, gaining 44 cent or 8.8 per cent to €5.44 in Dublin. In New York, it gained more than 12 per cent at one stage to clamber back above $7 despite a continued dearth of news.

But dealers said that was pretty much it for positive stories with most other stocks turning in a lacklustre or negative performance that left the Iseq broadly unchanged on the day. In the banking sector, AIB was off 17 cent, or 1 per cent, to €15.97 while Bank of Ireland was down by eight cent to €12.99.

Irish Life & Permanent also gave up five cent to €14.75 while Anglo Irish Bank finished the day 15 cent lower at €20.25.

Dealers reported good activity in Fyffes, with nearly four million shares traded, but the stock closed just one cent higher at €2.17.

There was also good volume in Eircom and Independent News & Media. Shares in the telecoms group dropped four cent to €2.03 while the media group added two cent to €2.30.

Grafton Group, which releases full-year results today, lost five cent to €9.90 while insurance group FBD, which also reports, was down by three cent to €20.45.

Shares in IWP continued to fall after the release of a profit warning, giving up a further three cent, or 15 per cent, to €0.17 on top of Monday's drop of 9 per cent.

Settlement Day: March 11th