TRADING on the Dublin market yesterday was a lot firmer than Monday, according to analysts. The ISEQ index finished up 7.34 points on Monday's close to end the day at 2422.09.

The biggest mover of the day was Powerscreen which dealt at 439p, up 21p on its previous closing price.

CRH again reached an all-time high as overseas interest remained strong and hit 570p per share on several occasions before slipping back to 567p.

"There is a general feeling in Britain that the construction industry is beginning to recover so anything allied to CRH is seen as a good thing," said one dealer.

Major interest focused on Waterford Wedgwood which yesterday announced pre-tax profits of £28.1 million, a 24per cent increase on 1994 figures. The stock was well-bid, finishing up 2p at 67p.

"There was good demand, but the stock looked a little tired at the end of the day," said a dealer. "People seem to be more comfortable with it now that it appears to be in growth phase rather than recovery mode," he said.

The financial stocks also performed well, with Bank of Ireland closing up almost 4p at 425p and AIB gaining 1p to close at 326p.

There was steady bidding for Irish Permanent stock but it was unchanged on the day at 372p. Irish Life, which had closed at 252p ex-dividend on Monday, gained 1p on the day, ending at 253p.

Food stock prices were also firm. Avonmore gained 5p to close at 145p, while Waterford Foods gained 2p on its ex-dividend price of 98p. Kerry closed unchanged at 555p. "The situation [regarding the BSE crisis] seems to have calmed down a bit," said one dealer, "and the food stocks are steady enough again."

Norish gained 5p, finishing at 65p.

Arnotts, which announced on Monday that it had secured planning permission to carry out a major redevelopment programme at its Henry Street store in Dublin, closed again yesterday at 365p. It gained 22p on Monday after the announcement

Independent Newspapers again performed well, closing 6p up on its opening price of 512p.