Shares closed higher as the leading stocks notched up modest gains, helped by a positive backdrop overseas.

In London, the FTSE 100 closed 58.7 higher, while on Wall Street, the Dow got off to a firm start.

In Dublin, dealers reported some buying interest in Bank of Ireland, which firmed by 10 cents to €8.05 (£6.34). Irish Life & Permanent was unchanged at €9.65 (£7.60), while AIB gained five cents to close at €12.05 (£9.50).

Building materials group CRH continued to recoup this week's earlier losses, firming by 38 cents to €18.90 (£14.88), while traders said Smurfit also attracted decent buying interest, gaining two cents to €2.80 (£2.21).

Eircom had a fairly dull day, adding just three cents to €4.00 (£3.15).

Dealers said activity in second-line stocks was quiet, although generally they were marked down. "There's some tidying up of portfolios going on ahead of year-end, but volumes are not huge," one dealer noted.

Most of the Irish shares listed on the Nasdaq had also done little by the time the Dublin market closed.

But Elan, which announced on Thursday that it was forming a joint venture with Colorado-based Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, was up 4.5 per cent or $1.1875 at $27.25 while SmartForce added $1 or 2.95 per cent to $34.875.

Trintech was the biggest loser, shedding $3.125 or more than five per cent to $52.875.