Market Report: The market was dominated by the arrival of Eircom yesterday, with some 46 million of the firm's shares changing hands in a matter of four hours. The stock opened three cents beneath its flotation level of €1.55 and closed at €1.53. Dealers said it had touched €1.48 at one point but was finding reasonable support above €1.50.

The rest of the market was sluggish by comparison, with most stocks trading in a tight range and volume generally light.

MBO-target Barlo became the most obvious exception to this when Mr Dermot Desmond sold 14.63 per cent of the company to Mr Sean Quinn's Quinn Group at 48 cents per share. The sale, which came eight cents above the MBO offer level, constituted the bulk of Barlo's total volume of 27 million shares yesterday. Shares closed at 44 cents, up five.

Elsewhere, Elan was again a strong outperformer as its executives continue to present to investors. Shares in the pharmaceutical firm closed at €16.40, up 8 per cent on the day. They rose above $20.00 in New York. Fidelity has raised its stake in Elan from 6.6 per cent to 7.19 per cent.

AIB traded in a tight range between €12.17 and €12.25 for most of the day before finishing two cents higher at €12.22.

Bank of Ireland felt a bit more pressure in advance of next week's trading update, falling 13 cents to €10.32.

Anglo Irish Bank continued to fluctuate, closing down seven cents at €12.68. Irish Life & Permanent outperformed the sector by rising four cents to €12.95.

Ryanair was again a loser, although the move came on low volume. Shares in the airline fell five cents to €4.38.

Independent News & Media was busier than most stocks as investors eyed next week's full-year results. Davy, which acts as broker to the company, is expecting pre-tax profits to jump 15 per cent to €148 million. Shares rose one cent to €2.05.

Paddy Power benefited from a good result at Cheltenham, gaining five cents to €8.80.