Market continues steady progress

THE ISEQ index closed up 86.12 points yesterday to end the week at 2,678.38 points as CRH jumped and Smurfit Kappa posted results in line with analysts’ expectations.

In the financial sector, Bank of Ireland weakened 6c to 1.28, AIB gained 2c to 1.19, while Irish Life and Permanent progressed 15c to 2.60.

In construction, CRH recovered strongly moving up 1.15 to 18.22 regaining some of the losses in its share price since it warned on half-year profits on Wednesday, Grafton Group added 8c to 2.88, while Kingspan added 6c to 4.36.