Market in moderate gain

THE ISEQ index posted a small gain of 10.86 points yesterday to close at 2,610.74 as the banks slowed the index throughout the day.

In the financial sector, AIB fell by 13c to €1.03 after the group announced that it has increased its estimate of how much it will have to set aside to cope with bad debt provisions this year to €4.3 billion. Bank of Ireland added 3c to €1.17 having been relatively weak throughout the day, while Irish Life & Permanent gained 3c to €2.73.

€In construction, CRH moved up 15c to €17.61, Grafton Group increased 7c to €2.77, while Kingspan progressed 8c to €4.32.