Despite a positive tone in London and on Wall Street, Irish shares lost nearly 0.4 per cent yesterday but dealers said volumes were very light heading into the long Easter weekend.

The financial stocks were the most active but turned in a mixed performance as AIB lost eight cents to 13.32 and Bank of Ireland shed 17 cents to 10.53.

However, Irish Life & Permanent added 10 cents to €10.50 while First Active gained nearly 4 per cent, or 20 cents, to 5.25.

Volume in CRH was light, with less than 700,000 shares traded, but the stock edged up by five cents to 13.40 at the close. But Ryanair, which announced a one-million free-seat sale on its London routes, gave up 10 cents to €6.80.

Among secondliners, Grafton remained strong, adding eight cents to 3.38 as Davy Stockbrokers queried why it should trade at a 25 per cent price/earnings ratio discount to British peer Travis Perkins.

Food group Glanbia also added eight cents to €1.48 after announcing a £12 million sterling investment in its Northern Irish pizza operation.

Paddy Power shares lost a further five cents to €5.00 after Wednesday's first-half profit warning but dealers said they looked like stabilising around that level.

Shares in Elan shed seven cents to 2.69 after news that a study raised question marks over the efficacy of its Antegren drug in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

However, analysts said too much should not be read into the study which was a small one and of short duration.

Shares in Iona were unchanged at 1.30 in Dublin as the market absorbed the details of its latest restructuring plan.