Market maintains its advance

Yesterday saw a fifth consecutive day of gains on the ISEQ and a second consecutive day in which the index broke 8,000.

The index finished the session up 12.11 at 8006.32.

The financial sector lost ground overall. AIB and Bank of Ireland were down 2c to €20.28 and €14.95, while Anglo-Irish lost 4c to end at €12.93. This was in stark contrast to the performance of Irish Life and Permanent, which added 56c to €20.13.

The construction industry had a very mixed day with sector principals CRH steady at €26.60. Kingspan slipped 30c to €13.85 as Grafton lost 7c to €10.55.

Elsewhere C&C added 15c to €8.70 ahead of interim results due tomorrow. Paddy Power finished up 15c at €14.15. Fyffes added 2c to €1.61, after the fruit company declared it had purchased the remainder of Danish company Lembcke. Ryanair also gained 11c to €7.52.