CRH leads market advance

THE ISEQ index ended the week with a gain of 17.39 points at 2,919.81, lead by a strong performance from industry heavy weight CRH.

In the financial sector, AIB dipped 0.1c to 30.2c. Bank of Ireland fell 2c to 34.2c. Irish Life & Permanent was declined 4c to 88c, while insurance group FBD Holdings bucked the trend with an improvement of 5.4c to €6.55.

In the construction sector, CRH jumped 38c to €15.17 as bargain hunters snapped up the shares after a fall in the share price on Wednesday. Grafton Group slipped 1.4c to €3.55. Kingspan advanced 7.4c to €7.42, while housebuilder Abbey increased 8c to €5.28.