ISEQ rises despite fall in financials

Dublin's ISEQ closed up 13.51 points to 5,328.80 today despite the financials seeing a decrease of 65.38

It was a bad day for the banks as AIB closed down 8c to €12.25, Anglo decreased 1c to €13.29 and Irish Life and Permanent fell 5c to €12.65. Bank of Ireland was the biggest faller, going down 13 cents to €10.55.

The biggest climber of the day was Elan after the pharmaceutical company reached agreement with Eli Lilly to supplement the US company's manufacturing of the antidepressant duloxetine hydrochloride capsules. Rivals Galen saw their price fall by 10 cents to €10.90.

Independent News & Media remained unchanged today despite news that APN News & Media, in which Independent News & Media holds a 40.5% share, today announced that it would proceed with a full dual listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.

Iona technologies saw their shares climb 20 cents to €4.20.

Personal care products group IWP International saw no change in their share price after announcing that they signed a deal with its lenders which will ensure it has enough funds to operate up to the end of March 2006.

In London, the market ended the week on a flat note today after Wall Street closed in a mark of respect to former US President Ronald Reagan.

A lack of impetus from New York meant a quiet day for investors, with the FTSE 100 Index closing 2.1 points down at 4484.0.