Market Report: Gresham offered most reason for intrigue on the Irish market yesterday, with shares in the hotel group plunging on fears that takeover talks had ended without result. The stock closed 21 cents weaker at €1.10, with the Gresham board later confirming that takeover discussions were continuing.

The financials had a broadly uneventful day, with AIB climbing nine cents to €12.19 and Bank of Ireland rising three cents to €10.65.

NCB has set a new price target of €15 for AIB, arguing that its shares remain inexpensive and underlying growth remains good in its geographical markets.

Anglo Irish Bank added 20 cents to close at €14.15.

Irish Life & Permanent rose 20 cents to €13.55 after attracting a round of post-results upgrades.

Elsewhere, Fyffes was busier than usual, with some 3.7 million shares changing hands. Shares were unchanged however, closing at €1.58.

Elan gave up some of its recent stellar gains, shedding 21 cents to finish at €13.39.

CRH fell 15 cents to €17.00 after a large seller stepped in at that level. The stock has been upgraded by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which has set a price target of €19.00.

Independent News & Media also saw quite heavy trade but moved in the opposite direction, rising one cent to €2.19.

Greencore added two cents to close at €3.35 as it emerged that Brandes Investment Partners, a US investment house, has taken a 5 per cent stake in the company.

IAWS, which is expected to report interim profit growth of about 5 per cent next week, climbed four cents to €9.74.

Paddy Power, which posted bumper numbers last week, was yesterday helped by strong results from rival bookie William Hill. Shares rose by 15 cents to €8.60.

Kingspan rose two cents to €4.37 as it emerged that AIB's holding has fallen from 6 per cent to below the notifiable threshold. The firm will report 2003 results on Tuesday.