Dublin report: Aer Lingus stole the limelight again yesterday, diverting some attention away from the interminable rise of the Iseq, which again closed at a record high.

Shares in the former State airline had a busy day, rising as high as €3.05, where a trade of 8.5 million units went through in one lot. It is believed the purchaser is a group of Aer Lingus pilots seeking to raise their stake in the airline in order to block any new bid from Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary. His initial bid was at €2.80 a share.

This large trade immediately pushed the stock downward, though it later recovered some ground to end the day at €2.90, down six cent, or 2 per cent.

In total, as many as 12.2 million units changed hands.

Ryanair meanwhile was subdued, with the shares slipping two cent, or 0.2 per cent, to close on €8.63. The company yesterday announced the establishment of its 18th European and second Spanish base in Madrid.

Elsewhere, the performances were mixed. CRH added 30 cent, or 1.1 per cent, to finish the day at €27.40, after the building materials group said it had agreed to buy a cement plant in the Heilongjiang province in north-east China.

Tullow was also in favour, rising 40 cent, or 7.4 per cent, to close at €5.82 after saying its partner in one of its Ugandan ventures was about to test one of the wells for oil and gas. It said hydrocarbons had already been found in the area.

Bank of Ireland put in the strongest performance among the financials, closing up 21 cent, or 0.4 per cent, at €15.46.

Anglo was also in demand, rising five cent, or 0.4 per cent, to €13.60, though AIB and Irish Life & Permanent didn't fare so well, with both stocks seeing what dealers described as decent selling interest.