Market Report: The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down 12.71 points at 6,785.59 following a day's trading that dealers described as directionless.

"It was very messy, very up and down today," said one dealer. He pointed out that the markets were waiting for corporate news to spur them on. Both AIB and Paddy Power are due to report next week.

AIB rose 12 cent to close at €16.27 on the back of volumes of one million shares. Bank of Ireland drifted slightly to close three cent down at €12.80 after 1.9 million shares changed hands.

Irish Life & Permanent posted the best performance of the financials, closing up 10 cent at €14.80 on trades totalling almost 360,000 units. However, the stock traded at over €14.90 for much of the day, with a small order going through at €15.

Convenience food and agribusiness group Greencore saw unusually high volumes going through, with a total of 3.6 million shares traded during the day. The largely seller-driven activity in the stock shaved 13 cent off its price to leave it at €3.21 on the close.

Another food-related stock, Kerry Group, added five cent to close at €18.15 on good volumes of 563,000.

On the industrial front, Kingspan dipped 13 cent to close at €8.35 after 900,000 shares were traded on the day. However, it reached highs of €8.50 during trading.

Ryanair had its wings clipped once again, closing down five cent off at €6.30. The stock has drifted this week, partly because of a lack of news and partly because of speculation that the Ryan family and chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, were planning another share sale. However, dealers said they believed a sale was unlikely.

Waterford Wedgwood continued on its up and down path, closing one cent off at six cent after 9.5 million units changed hands. Some investors took a bet on bookmaker Paddy Power posting good results next week. The stock closed up eight cent at €12.88.

Settlement Day: February 23rd