IRISH stocks eased back yesterday as predicted by dealers at the close of business on Monday. The main movers of the day were Bank of Ireland and Irish Permanent, but in terms of volume of shares traded, it was Smurfit who took that accolade.

Bank of Ireland's share price rose as high as 605p, but it slipped back to 602p at the close of business, up 7p on its previous closing price. Allied Irish Bank slipped back 1p to end at 432p, while Irish Permanent gained 5p on the day to finish at 550p.

Irish Life slipped back 2p, to close at 271p. The current dispute is not helping the share price, one dealer claimed. He said Irish Life's share price has remained flat this year, while Bank of Ireland is up 10.6 per cent, Allied Irish (9.3 per cent) and Irish Permanent (12.5 per cent). "Once the dispute is settled, this should help its share price along," said the dealer.

More than 12 million Smurfit shares were traded in London, but its share price was largely unchanged down 1p to 169p at the close of business.

Waterford Foods took a hit during the day, trading at 82.5p at one stage, but it managed to finish unchanged from its previous close at 86p. Kerry traded initially at 670p, but fell 10p by the end of trading. Golden Vale shares did not trade.

United Drug shares were up 5p at 340p while Unidare was down 10p at 200p.

In the exploration stocks, Arcon eased back a half-penny to close at 43p. Its share price has risen lately, mainly on the back of speculative reports that more good news may be on the way from its mine at Galmoy, Co Kilkenny.

Meanwhile, Heiton Holdings has written to the Stock Exchange to say that AIB and its subsidiaries now have 10.75 per cent of the company's issued share capital. New Ireland Investment Managers has 6.46 per cent of Heiton.