ISEQ closes up following busy trading

The ISEQ in Dublin closed up 22 points, nearly 0.5%, to 4775 this evening.

The financials were mostly positive. Anglo closed up €0.19 to €12.29. Earlier today the bank revealed that company secretary Bernard Daly sold 70,000 shares yesterday, leaving him with just 0.0005% of the stock.

Bank of Ireland was also up, adding €0.07 to €10.60. Irish L&P rose €0.07 to €11.95 and AIB dropped down €0.04 to €12.18.

Construction stocks were mixed. Kingspan rose €0.02 to €4.00 after heavy trading. The company released a trading update today saying that year end results to be announced in March are expected to be in line with company expectations.

CRH was down €0.21 to €15.86 as profit takers sold off . Heiton was up €0.02 to €3.75 and the Grafton group added €0.05 to €5.50.

Elsewhere Elan gained €0.11 to €4.76 after announcing it was retaining its drug delivery and acute care business in the US.

The most heaviest traded stock today Waterford Wedgwood, jumped €0.04 to €0.25.Chief Executive Redmond O'Donoghue picked up 1.2m shares yesterday, raising his share investment and encouraging others to follow suit.

The FTSE100 in London was at 4347, up 0.38%, this evening -closing up after losing some of its early gains following disappointing US data released to the market.