The market held up reasonably well yesterday, particularly in light of Tuesday's losses in the US. The Iseq as a whole finished 0.16 per cent weaker, with the financials among the losers.

AIB was pushed down after moving ex-dividend by 42 cent. The bank closed at €19.67, 36 cent weaker.

Bank of Ireland fared better, gaining nine cent to finish at €15.04. Anglo Irish also moved ahead, rising by seven to €13.82. Irish Life & Permanent was less solid as it shed 14 cent to end the session at €18.35.

Glanbia was among the newsmakers yesterday, reporting a 1 per cent increase in adjusted earnings per share for last year. The result, which was in line with expectations, failed to set the market alight and Glanbia's shares fell by nine cent to €2.66. They had strengthened in the run-up to the numbers.

Also reporting yesterday was Paddy Power, which produced a fairly solid set of numbers. Shares in the bookmaker fell by 25 cent to €13.00, again having been firm over recent days.

CRH rose by 15 cent to €27.61, supported by good results from Swiss heavy materials peer, Holcim. CRH reports next Tuesday. Kingspan, which is due to report 2005 results on the same day, fell by 21 cent to close at €11.91 last night. Grafton gained seven cent to reach €10.37 amid good demand.

Elan was volatile again, closing 39 cent weaker at €10.80 after rival drugmaker Teva circulated unpublished research suggesting problems with Tysabri. The stock was also hit by a broker downgrade issued on Tuesday.

Ryanair improved, climbing by 16 cent to €7.82, despite rising oil prices.

Eircom looked busy again, with volume of almost 28 million shares recorded in Dublin. Dealers believed there was some double counting, however, with actual volume thought to have been lower. Babcock & Brown is nonetheless likely to have been back in the market, having confirmed a stake of 21.6 per cent. Shares were steady at €2.21.