SHARES prices drifted lower in another day of thin trading, although Smurfit was once again the exception, dealing in size in London, and the share closed down 3p on 170p in Dublin. Two way trading within a narrow range is the hallmark of current trading in Smurfit.

CRH was also in demand and closed up 2p on 598p, just off its all time high of 600p. Elsewhere, it was very much a mixed bag with agri-business group Golden Vale down 3p on 62p and well offered at that level following statements from the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates that the company had been investigated for alleged EU milk quota irregularities. The best bid for shares was 55p and the market will be looking for some clarification from the company.

Greencore dropped 5p to 300p, Hibernian jumped 121/2p to 2921/2p, while New Ireland added another 25p to 825p in expectation of either a bid for the minority shares by UAP, or possibly a sale of some or all of the Irish operations by the French group.

Clondalkin added 3p to 448p, Barlo was 2p higher on 40p ahead of today's results while Kerry was unchanged on its 635p high.

Irish Continental was 5p higher on 545p, McInerney was lp higher on 6p, Unidare lost 12p to 248p while Woodchester was 2p better on 197p. Navan dealt up a penny 217p despite the news that its chief executive had sold 750,000 shares at 215p sterling.

Gilts were also pretty dull and drifted in afternoon trading against a background of lacklustre trading on overseas markets. The main news of the day was a successful £75 million tap of the 10 year benchmark gilt, which closed on a yield of 7.43 per cent. Five year gilts closed on a yield of 6.70 per cent, while long dated gilts were on a yield of 7.60 per cent at the close.