The Irish stock market closed modestly lower after a day of mixed fortunes and light volume.

Tullow Oil was one of the better performers, adding 3.8 per cent to 150 pence sterling in London and more than 2 per cent to €2.17 in Dublin after announcing a £200 million (€291 million) acquisition of two gas fields in the North Sea.

Other strong gainers included C&C, which was up eight cents or 2.8 per cent to €2.96 as more than two million shares were traded.

Building materials group Kingspan continued to forge ahead, adding a further 24 cents, or 3.5 per cent to €7.10.

Yesterday's losers included Elan, which was off 60 cents, or nearly 3 per cent, to €19.60 in Dublin as investors began to fret that a lot of the good news from the company was already in the share price.

Fruit distributor Fyffes also suffered from recent revelations in its High Court case against DCC, shedding eight cent or nearly 4 per cent to €1.95.

"People are very confused as to what Fyffes are saying. Investors are looking for an answer," one dealer noted, referring to the boost given to the 1999 results by the write-back of a €19 million provision, something investors were not informed about at the time.

In London, Petrel Resources felt yet more pain on the back of failing to win two Iraqi oil contracts. Shares in the firm tumbled another 10p, or 24 per cent, to 32.5p sterling.

Shares in Independent News & Media lost one cent to €2.26 ahead of a trading statement due mid-week and speculation that the group is about to announce a move into the Indian market.

Irish Life & Permanent stood out as one of the better performers among the financial stocks, adding 10 cents to €13.65 as takeover rumours about the group did the rounds again, dealers said.

AIB also closed higher, adding five cents to €14.95 but Bank of Ireland gave up six cents to €11.97 while Anglo Irish Bank was off three cents to €17.87.