Dealers described yesterday as a "quiet and soggy" day in the Irish stock exchange with no significant dealing until mid-afternoon and the index moving back 0.5 per cent.

As expected, the day was dominated by the Telecom Eireann razzmatazz and initial expectations, based on grey market dealing, are that its price will deal up by at least 20 per cent, from £3.07 (#3.90) to £3.68 (#4.67).

The clearance given at its a.g.m. to management at Bank of Ireland to engage in a share buy-back arrangement was the other main corporate news which may filter into positive sentiment on the bank's share price, although the bank was just 10 cents up yesterday at #17.90 (£14.10). The bank has still to say whether it will actually go ahead with such a move.

AIB, meanwhile, eased back six cents to #13.74 (10.82), Anglo Irish was back two cents to #2.55 (£2.01), but Irish Life & Permanent made further gains, closing three cents up at #11.45 (£9.02). CRH was up 45 cents to #18.90 (£14.88) and Heiton, whose annual results showed a 24.2 per cent profit rise, held on to Tuesday's 15 cents gain and remained at #3.20 (£2.52).

Irish companies with US quotations provoked some interest with the principal among them, Elan, fielding questions from the US Securities and Exchange Commission about accounting procedures and receiving a downgrade from SG Cowen. On the ISEQ, Elan was back #1.85 to #27.3975. By the close of business in Dublin, it was back $2.375 (#2.32) to $27.375 (#26.77) on the New York Stock Exchange although some recovery was expected following an announcement of a breakthrough on a drug to treat Alzheimer's Disease. CBT was up 17 per cent to $20 (#19.56) on the Nasdaq on the news that it had signed a contract, worth up to $100 million (#97.7 million), with Unisys Corporation.