Little movement for ISEQ

There was little activity on the Irish Stock Exchange today, as few shares registered significant movement. The index did succeed in climbing 19.37 points to 7538.84, however.

There was generally good news for the financials, Allied Irish Bank being the only institution to record a loss, slipping 10c to €18.40. Elsewhere, there were slight gains for Irish Life & Permanent (up 5c to €18.15) and Bank of Ireland (up 1c to €13.81). It was a very positive start for Anglo Irish Bank, who shot up 22c to €11.87.

The biggest gain of the day was enjoyed by CRH, the construction firm gaining 28c to €26.93. Other firms in the construction sector also did well, with Readymix up 7c to €2.42, and Kingspan up 5c to €13.30.

Elan lost 18c to €12.82 in early trading, despite the announcement that it has entered into a license agreement with Abbott Pharmaceutical PR Ltd.

Blackrock International inched 1c higher to 40c on the news that it had acquired two new properties, at a combined initial cost of more than €9m.