Eircom closes level as investors cash in profits

Market report: Takeover target Eircom remained the focus of interest on a day when the Iseq index shed some of the week's gains to end the day 60.05 points down at 6,670.93.

However, even the Republic's biggest fixed-line telecoms company drifted for most of the session as investors cashed in some of the profits earned during a dramatic week for the company. Eircom closed level at €2.33 after 12.6 million shares traded in Dublin and a further 13 million sold in London. Dealers said that its price settled around €2.30 for most of the day, before spiking upwards ahead of the close.

Experts said there was no particular reason for the uptick at the end of the day. "It's a tricky market at the moment so it looks like a lot of people decided to bank the money while they could," one dealer said.

Swisscom, the company named as Eircom's probable suitor, is set to publish interim figures on November 10th. Brokers suggested yesterday it could choose this moment to show its hand.

Elsewhere, there was some movement in the financials, but dealers said it was "nothing to get excited about". AIB dipped 29 cent to €17.14 on volumes of 1.8 million shares. Bank of Ireland shed 10 cent to close at €12.75 in light trading, with just 900,000 units changing hands. Its lacklustre performance was related to general weakness in the European financial sector.

The Republic's biggest company, building materials group CRH, dipped by 38 cent to close at €21.65. Ryanair, which is due to report numbers on Monday, closed 15 cent down at €7 after 1.16 million shares were traded.

There was some movement in mid-sized stocks. What looked like more profit taking brought a good run at builders' merchants Grafton to an end. The stock dropped 18 cent to close at €8.45.

Greencore dropped 7 cent to close at €3.08. Independent News & Media traded at over €2.30, before closing one cent down at €2.28.

Settlement Day: November 9th