CRH helps cement market recovery

MARKET REPORT:After a dip in fortunes earlier in the day, the Iseq managed to drag itself up into positive territory, ending the day 1 per cent higher.

But gains here and there aren't enough. The Dublin market will need "a significant mood change very soon" to stop the fourth quarter of 2007 from being the worst fourth-quarter performance for the Iseq since the equity market crash of 1987, Davy Stockbrokers noted yesterday.

A 1.5 per cent climb in CRH's share price, which finished up 39 cent at €25.55, was a key driver of the index's performance.

Among the financials, Bank of Ireland was the best performer, climbing 1.5 per cent to €10.33, adding 15 cent to its share price. Anglo Irish Bank and AIB also made gains, although on far from spectacular volumes.

But Irish Life & Permanent, which issued a downbeat trading statement on Thursday, let the side down again in yesterday's trading. It lost 9 cent to close at €12.37, unable to recover any of the previous day's 6.7 per cent slide in fortunes.

Volumes were generally light, and most of the action was the result of international sentiment rather than local news.

However, C&C's share price swung about as AC Nielsen released critical off-trade data relating to British sales of its cider drink, Magners. The stock hit a low of €3.57 after the disappointing figures were released before recovering to trade at a price of €3.80, but it eventually closed down 20 cent at €3.70, down 5 per cent on the day.

Elan managed to gain some ground after its 9.3 per cent loss on Thursday, rising almost 3.5 per cent yesterday to close up 53 cent at €15.84.

There was some buying interest in Ryanair, which had an uplifting day, climbing 17 cent to finish at €4.67, up almost 4 per cent.