After trading nicely with some solid demand for most of the day, suddenly it looked as if the bottom had fallen out of Bank of Ireland shares. After trading up 15 cents to €7.25 in Dublin and London, suddenly a deal at €6.25 emerged. Fortunately it was a mistake by a dealer and was quickly fixed but not before some hearts skipped a beat.

Bank of Ireland was by far the most active Irish stock yesterday with 3.5 million shares traded in London and 1.1 million in Dublin. Dealers said that there was good overseas interest in the stock and further gains may be in the offing given the scale of the premium to the UK banking sector that still exists.

Otherwise, it was another dull day with the financials generally firmer and leading industrials lower. Technology shares remained active with Parthus having another excellent day on the back of the purchase of a 1 per cent stake in the company by computer giant 3Com. Parthus was 15p higher in London on volume of 2.8 million shares and was trading over $2 (€2.1) higher by midday on Nasdaq above $33.

Baltimore was also firmer in London - up 18p to £5.95 sterling despite its imminent FTSE-100 ejection and a pretty lukewarm "hold" recommendation from CSFB. CSFB said that the price already discounts significant growth and upside potential is limited. Trintech was trading over $2 higher on Nasdaq near $26 after an indifferent day on the Neuer Markt.

Eircom dealt 2 cents higher to €3.17 but some of the takeover fizz went out of Ryan Hotels, which fell 12 cents to €1.08 while Marlbor- ough was 20 cents lower on €1.60.