THE market ended the week on a rather quiet note. The cut in the German repo rate and its lack of influence on Irish wholesale rates had no impact on the Irish stock market.
The banks didn't do much but Bank of Ireland was 4p weaker at 452p. AIB put on 1p at 352p. Among the leading industrials, CRH put on 6p to 601p. Smurfit was 4p firmer at 167p.
The main feature, of course, was Grafton which operates the Woodies DIY chain. The results, much better than expected, provided a mini flourish to a rather listless market.
Profits up 74 per cent to £6.6 million at the halfway stage more than reflected the buoyancy in the market. The results also showed that Grafton was making - useful inroads in the market.
The market showed its approval by pushing the shares up 35p to 660p, an all time high.
Adare printing shed 5p to close at 460p. Bernard Somers has again reduced his holding in the company. This time his holding has been cut from 1,451,456 to 1,351,456 shares.
Another feature was Tullow shares which rose from 94 1/2p to 105 1/2p. This prompted a statement from the company which noted it was about to commence a testing programme in Pakistan following the detection of gas shows.
