Market closes in positive territory

THE ISEQ closed in positive territory ahead of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in line with worldwide bourses. The Irish Exchange was 21.99 points higher on the day.

In the banking sector, AIB dipped slightly by 0.3c to 21.5c. Bank of Ireland also eased back 0.3c to 24c. Irish Life & Permanent bucked the sector trend by nudging upwards by 0.3c to 15.4, while insurance company FBD holdings jumped 9.4c to 7.434.

In construction, heavyweight CRH was a leading riser, climbing 59c to 16.42, despite another weak month for highway contract awards in the US leaving a Q1 decline of 10%. Grafton Group was also ahead by 5.1c to 3.531, while Kingspan gained 6.5c to 6.65.

Elsewhere, in the gaming sector Paddy Power climbed 79c to 32.30 as William Hill announced a positive Q1 trading update ahead of forecasts.

Meanwhile Smurfit Kappa shed 6c to 9.29, with pharmaceutical company Elan giving up 43c to 5.29.