Market makes moderate gain

THE ISEQ index finished up 9.25 points yesterday. The market was particularly weak through the first half of the day after sharp falls in the US overnight.

In the financial sector, the main banks were weak before recovering throughout the afternoon as bargain hunters were to the fore and the US market opened stronger. AIB finished up 2c at 90c, Bank of Ireland gained 2c to 70c, while Irish Life and Permanent dived 24c to e1.85.

In the construction sector, CRH regained some ground adding 27c to e16.81, Grafton Group rose 4c to e2.36, while Kingspan Group dipped 2c e3.48.