A strong performance by Eircom helped the ISEQ index add 62.85 points to finish yesterday at 5,442.63, a rise of some 1.17 per cent on the day's trading.

The telecoms company, which announced a restructuring plan last month, has seen its share price fall below its flotation price of €3.90 in recent days. But it added 13 cents to finish at €3.83, a rise of some 3.5 per cent. One analyst put the recovery down to a "bounce factor" but it remains unclear whether this will lead to more positive sentiment towards the stock.

Elsewhere it was a "reasonable day" on the markets with some volatility among small stocks, according to analysts. Trinty Biotech, the Bray-based manufacturer of diagnostics products, which has slipped from a high of €7.66 this year, added 60 cents to finish at €3.60.

Green Property added 13 cents to finish at €5.60 while Ryan Hotels, which announced a profit rise of 15 per cent in 1999 yesterday added five cents to finish at 90 cents. Jurys Doyle, the other quoted hotel group, lost five cents to finish at €6.55.

Among the financials AIB had a decent day adding four cents to finish at €10.99. One analyst said there remained some "strong bid demand" for the stock among investors who were more interested in it than Bank of Ireland. Bank of Ireland finished up two cents at €7.35 on the day.

Among other leading stocks, CRH continued its downward spiral from Tuesday losing another 12 cents to finish at €18.45. Kerry added two cents to finish at €13.70.

Sentiment for Irish stocks on international markets was mixed as the ISEQ closed last night. In New York, Elan was down 2.9 per cent at $45.87 1/2. On the Nasdaq, Baltimore was down $1 at $93, Riverdeep had added $2 at $22.37 1/2 and Iona was up 2 per cent at $57.