ISEQ makes modest gains

The ISEQ index of Irish shares got off to a positive start this morning, up 5.04 to 7961.62 by 11am.

Irish Life & Permanent was among the main movers, up 20c to €18.90. AIB was unchanged at €19.80, while Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish were both down 5c to €14.56 and €12.40 respectively.

It was a good morning for Kerry Group, up 28c to €17.50, and McInerney Holdings, up 34c to €12.24.

Also in the construction sector, shares at Grafton were down 38c to €10.47 as it announced a 10% hike in operating profits for the first six months of 2006 to €106.9m, up from €97.6m for the same period in 2005.

Profit before tax was up 35%, on revenues of €1.43bn.

Pharmaceutical giant Elan was also in the red this morning, down 25c to €12.35.