ISEQ closes on slim gain

In Dublin, the ISEQ index was up 4.91 points to 4628.20, or 11%, barely keeping itself out of negative territory.

Financials were mixed, Bank of Ireland was down €0.03 to €10.27and AIB fell €0.12 to €12.12. Anglo added €0.07 to €10.00 and Irish L&P saw its share price increase €0.07 to €11.87.

Building stocks regained some ground today with CRH changing its recent downward direction by adding €0.01 to €14.95. Kingspan added €0.08 to €3.70.

Gresham which shed €0.07 yesterday, added €0.01 today with its share price coming in at €1.05. Jurys however continued yesterday's negative trend to fall a further €0.12 to €9.80.

Other movers included F.B.D Holdings who fell €0.20 after a dramatic week's climb. Adding to the downside, pharmaceutical group Elan fell €0.02 to €4.30 after it announced this morning that it has completed the purchase of the rights for Zonegran, Frova and Zanaflex for nearly $100m (€83.9m).

In London, UK blue chips closed slightly higher, ending a volatile week,however yesterday's bomb blasts in Istanbul and the threat of further terrorist action continued to weigh heavily on sentiment. By the close, the FTSE-100 index was 11 points higher at 4,319.0,

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was up 11.37 points at 9,630.79, while the Nasdaq traded 9.98 points higher at 1,891.90,although mixed earnings news from Merck & Co and Disney limited gains.

The euro was worth €1.19 and £.6990 at 5pm.