Another day of strong interest in Irish banking shares ahead of Bank of Ireland's interim results statement tomorrow helped the ISEQ gain 20 points to 5,953.
The ISEQ is rapidly approaching its all-time peak of 6,013 - recorded just before the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
Brokers reported strong interest in Bank of Ireland today but after a strong rally in recent gains the share price retreated towards the close of the session as nervousness set in ahead of tomorrow's results.
Irish Life & Permanent caught up on its sector peers today gaining 44 cents to euro 12.99. The banking sector has rallied impressively since the massive sell-off triggered by foot-and-mouth. Bank of Ireland alone has gained 37 per cent in six weeks, brokers said.
CRH said at its AGM today that foot-and-mouth and a harsh winter adversely affected first-quarter growth but it still expected to meet full-year targets. Its shares fell 20 cents to euro 19.70.
Eircom slipped back 2 cents to euro 2.57 in a poor day for European telecoms. But the market responded positively to Parthus Technologies' new licensing agreement with STMicroelectronics. Parthus shares gained 8.8 per cent to £1.03 in London.
London's FTSE 100 index reversed an earlier fall in the last minutes of trade today, buoyed by a rally on Wall Street which moved the Dow and Nasdaq off earlier lows.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 7.3 at 5,893.7, recovering from a mid-morning low of 5,826.8.
Oil stocks were the biggest gainers. Shell closed up 2.8 per cent while rival BP Amoco added 2.7 per cent.
Other technology stocks to close down included CMG, off 4.1 per cent; ARM Holdings, down 3.7 per cent; and Marconi, which shed 2.6 per cent.