ISEQ finishes day in positive territory

The ISEQ index continued its bright start from this morning by finishing at 5,703.97 for the day, a gain of 42.44 points, thanks largely to a huge price rise in Warner Chilcott's shares.

The pharmaceutical giant posted a €1.56 gain for the day bringing their price to €11.13. Rival Elan however, saw its share price slump by 21c to finish at €19.74.

Ryanair's added 5c to its share price bringin it to €4.22 as it announced four new low fares routes from London Stansted to Spain and Portugal.

The new routes will commence on dates between the November 2, 2004 and February 25, 2005.

This brings to 78 the number of routes offered by Ryanair from London Stansted and to 12 the total number of airports served in the Iberian Peninsula from London.

Meanwhile, food groups Kerry and Glanbia both made gains as a special food marketing event took place at Croke Park today.

Around 225 buyers from some of the largest retailers in Europe and the United States have been invited to attend the Marketplace Ireland initiative, which was arranged by Bord Bia.

The goal is to increase sales of Irish goods in new and existing international markets.

Kerry's shareprice was up 28c to €17.28 and Glanbia was up 4c to €2.64.

Building materials group CRH gained 22c to €19.77 amid heavy trading.

In a busy day, the financials were mixed, with two of them unchanged - Bank of Ireland and Irish Life and Permanent - on yesterday's figures to stand at €11.34 and €12.90 respectively. AIB shed 3c to finish at €13.47, while Anglo Irish made a significant 25c gain to stand at €15.10.

Other major risers were business support services group, DCC, who went up 26c to €14.60, Ulster Television, up 18c to €6.30 and Iona technologies who saw their stock rise by 10c to €3.60.