Market slows but more gains likely next week

The strong euro-inspired trading in Dublin this week ended yesterday when the ISEQ index managed only a negligible rise, mainly…

The strong euro-inspired trading in Dublin this week ended yesterday when the ISEQ index managed only a negligible rise, mainly because of profit-taking by some investors.

While trading volumes were healthy and the main stocks attracted strong interest, second liners remained untouched. The performance was disappointing considering that in London the FTSE hit a new high, sparked by bid speculation surrounding Safeway and Cable and Wireless. Dealers said the market was probably taking a breather after a week in which the ISEQ rose by 5 per cent. Buyers yesterday seemed to be keenly interested in buying Elan, which helped the ISEQ maintain its recent run. The company went from 58 (£46.68) to 60.46 (£47.62), which was a reflection of the strong trading in Wall Street stock.

Some of the other big names had a rougher time, with AIB ending up slightly higher at 17.02 (£13.40) from 17 (£13.39). However, the number of trades was encouraging and there were a large number of overseas buyers, said dealers.

Bank of Ireland was down from 19.85 (£15.63) at 19.50 (£15.36), although the volumes of trading were slightly more reserved.

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Elsewhere, the main corporate news was the decision by the British financial services group Abbey National to sell its 9 per cent shareholding in Irish Permanent, realising £60.7 million (77.07) from the sale.

On this news the market reported that that more investors will now be interested in the new Irish Permanent Life entity. Reflecting this, the shares in Irish Life and Irish Permanent pushed ahead. Irish Permanent was up from 13.95 (£10.99) to 14.30 (£11.26), while Irish Life was up from 8.90 (£7.01) to 9.10 (£7.17).

While these two financial stocks climbed upward, the big industrial stocks were sliding backwards. Smurfit was back two cents, from 1.76 (£1.39) to 1.74 (£1.37), while CRH, in large volumes, was down 52 cents (41p) to 14.73 (£11.60).

Elswhere the main movers were Jurys, up from 6.70 (£5.28) to 6.85 (£5.39), Grafton Group, up from 15.05 (£11.85) to 15.50 (£12.21) and First Active, which was down 15 cents (12p) to 4.85 (£3.82).