THE Irish market maintained its levels despite the large sell-off on Wall Street a day earlier. The market opened nervously after the Wall Street fall but picked up after London and other European bourses shrugged off the losses.

"The perception is that Wall Street overreacted. When a market is on a bull run it can quickly get spooked and go overboard," one dealer noted.

Dealers said volumes were quite moderate and there was little movement in any of the main stocks.

The market was also cautious ahead of the British budget and worries about further British rate hikes.

International bond markets also recovered after Japanese officials insisted that there was no prospect of a sell-off in Treasuries. Irish bonds also firmed slightly, although dealers said there was very little overseas interest and volumes and activity were sluggish.

Greencore saw some volatility falling 5p to close at 325p a share.

The banks on other hand gained a little on the day. AIB put on 1p to close at 513p and Bank of Ireland gained 2p to 720p before closing at 654p sterling, up almost a penny on the day. Irish Permanent remained at 610p while Irish Life lost 2 1/2p to close at 337 1/2p.

Of the main industrials, CRH eased 4p to end at 694p and Smurfit lost 1p to close at 192p.

Kerry Group lost 5p to 635p while Independent gained 5p to close at 380p.

Bond traders said there had been very little activity over the past few days. They pointed to the high level of the pound against the deutschmark. "Without the non-residents, it is very difficult to create the volume or volatility,"

They added that the market was now beginning to focus on next week's Exchequer returns which are likely to show a large budget surplus and highlight that there will be only a very limited issue of stock over the rest of this year.

The 6.5 per cent bond, due 2001, was up at 102.13 to yield 5.83 per cent from 5.851 per cent. The 8 per cent bond, due 2006, closed at 110.03 yielding 6.403 per cent from 6.429 per cent.