THE Central Bank's surprise increase in interest rates came too late to make any significant impact on Dublin's stock market, which had already reached new highs well before the announcement.

On the back of continued strong overseas interest, the ISEQ closed almost 1.9 per cent higher. News of the Central Bank's half of one percentage point rise in its key short term interest rate came less than half an hour before the market closed and mainly left investors confused.

Dealers said that while it did manage to take the wind out of the hectic volume of trading, its effects will be more clearly seen during today's session.

The surge of overseas interest was sparked by investors seeking bargains in the relatively cheap Dublin market as a result of the sharp devaluation of the pound.

All of the leaders were lifted by the rising tide, with financial stocks making most gains.

AIB was in good demand, trading up 19p to 484p by the close. Bank of Ireland also gained ground, closing at 710p, up 15p on the day, having gone as high as 720p earlier. Among the other financials, Irish Life gained 11p to 335p, Hibernian put on 12p to 332p, while Irish Permanent was unchanged at 620p. Woodchester also managed to move ahead, gaining 2 1/2p to 292 1/2p.

Meanwhile, the leading industrials also shared the day's fortunes, with CRH putting in one of the strongest performances, adding 21 1/2p to 673p. Smurfit also rose, gaining 4p to 167p.

Second liners were also in good demand. Kingspan managed to continue its recent good run, gaining 40p to close at 745p. Irish Continental group went 20p better to 620p.

Abbey and Adare also had a good run. Abbey managed to go 5p better to 215p, while Adare also gained 5p to 675p.

In the food sector, Avonmore traded up 5p to 235p, Fyffes went a penny better to 96p, while Golden Vale held steady at 65p and Greencore added top to 350p.

In other corporate news, AIB Investment Managers disclosed the sale of 40,000 Avonmore shares at 230p to the stock exchange.