Telecom Eireann and the two main banking stocks provided most of the interest on an otherwise lacklustre stock market. There was little direction from overseas markets which got off to a hesitant start, struggling to make gains after Wall Street edged up on reassuring June inflation data. Telecom closed unchanged at €4.66 (£3.67) as the anticipated flood of sell orders from small retail investors who received share certificates in the post failed to emerge. AIB closed 14.5 cents higher at €13.525 (£10.65), while Bank of Ireland gained 45 cents to €18.10 (£14.25). There was particular interest in the latter ahead of this weekend's two-for-one share split which will see the price halved and shareholders owning double the amount of shares.

However, Irish Life & Permanent did not share in the gains, drifting down to close at €10.70 (£8.43), a drop of 30 cents on the day. "The shares just seem to be out of favour at the moment," one dealer said.

CRH continued to build on the upward momentum of recent days, adding a further 25 cents to €19.35 (£15.24).

Secondline stocks were generally subdued, although both Barlo and Greencore announced acquisitions. Barlo's shares closed five cents higher at €0.75 (£0.59) the company announced that it had acquired ICI Acrylics, a German plastics extrusion company, part of ICI Acrylics, a business unit of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), for up to €11 million (£8.66 million). Greencore also added five cents to €3.00 (£2.36).