Market gain follows European trend

THE ISEQ Index closed up mirroring the gains in other European bourses. The Dublin exchange was 17.58 points higher at 7828.68.

AIB finished up 20c following M&T’s first quarter 2006 results. Bank of Ireland closed down 4c at e14.58. Anglo Irish and Irish Life and Permanent ended €13.05 and €19.55.

Construction stocks were strong with CRH jumping 35c to €28.30. Grafton Group increased its share price by 20c. Kingspan Group was 10c ahead at €12.95.

Independent News and Media dropped 3c to €2.50 with over 2.6 million shares changing hands. Jagran Prakashan released impressive results in which Independent News and Media has a 20.8% stake. Ryanair fell 14c to €7.03. Waterford Wedgewood ended at 6c with over 36 million shares traded on the day.