Share prices drifted lower in Dublin, in line with the trend on international markets. The drop in US producer prices might have been a plus but the Dow opened flat and had little real impact on European markets.

Ryanair was the exception to the downward trend, with investors responding enthusiastically to the heavily oversubscribed share placing and the influx of British and European investors on to the share register. From the placing price of 550p and the overnight price of 570p, Ryanair shares traded up to 590p before ending on an all-time closing high of 585p.

The financials were generally weaker, with Bank of Ireland down 25 1/2 p on £15.50 after announcing that 52 per cent of shareholders had taken the interim scrip dividend. This has resulted in 1.58 million new shares being issued and a £20.7 million cash saving for the bank. The only surprise was that more did not take the scrip alternative, given that the scrip share were issued at £13.07 compared to the current price.

Elsewhere, AIB was unchanged on £11.12, Irish Life reached 710p before closing unchanged on 700p while Irish Permanent was also unchanged on 950p.

Industrials were also generally weaker with CRH down 10p on £10.41, Avonmore down 5p to 295p while Fyffes was 2p easier on 166p. Clondalkin was unchanged on 615p as Bank of Ireland Asset Managers disclosed that it had bought over 97,000 shares to take its stake to 13.9 per cent.