The triple witching hour - when stock options and futures expire on the New York Stock Exchange - had a positive impact on stock markets around the world with Wall Street, London and Frankfurt all powering ahead to new highs. Some of the steam went out of the Irish market, but the ISEQ still closed ahead on the day.

And while stocks like Bank of Ireland and CRH - which have led the charge in the past week - paused for breath, some secondliners notched up significant gains in a catch-up exercise.

Among the leaders, AIB was up almost a penny on 947p in a late sterling deal, while Bank of Ireland edged 5p higher to a new £15.55 closing high. CRH closed up 10p on £11, while Smurfit was unchanged on 210p. Irish Life, however, lost 4 1/2p to 587 1/2p, while Irish Permanent was 5p easier on £10.15.

Second-liners to move higher in generally thin trading included: Abbey, up 25p to 400p; Adare, up 35p to 835p; Green, up 15p to 490p; and Independent, up 15p to 445p. Waterford Wedgwood gained 3p to 121p, while Kingspan was 7p easier on 328p.

There was little to drive the bond market one way or the other, with the main debate on when the Central Bank will bite the bullet and cut interest rates. The repo tender on Monday may provide some insight to the bank's short-term thinking. There are differing view in the market over how rates will be brought down to German levels over the next nine months.