The August blues continued to dominate the Irish market. And although the index rose by 1.5 per cent, this was on the back of pitiful trading volumes with not a single stock trading more than one million shares. The seasonal torpor is likely to remain the dominant feature and dealers see no resumption of any decent-sized trading for at least the next couple of weeks.

Financial shares were firmer with AIB up 25 cents on €9.75, while Bank of Ireland was four cents firmer on €6.77. Deutsche Bank 's endorsement of Irish Life as a "value play" has had limited impact so far and the share was just five cents firmer on €9.25 although it jumped 14 1/2 p in thin London trading to £5.55 sterling.

Industrials were mixed, but Barlo was the pick of the crop and jumped 10 cents to a two-year high of €1.05 on the back of positive broker comment. DCC was 25 cents higher on €9.90, while Eircom regained another three cents to €2.64 but is still heavily out of favour. Greencore gained four cents to €2.97, while IAWS gained eight cents to a new-year high of €8.10. Golden Vale was four cents lower on €1.05, while Kingspan lost eight cents to €2.85.

Technology shares were generally mixed on the various markets. On the Neuer Markt Riverdeep fell 40 cents to €3.10 and was trading almost 70 cents lower on Nasdaq by midday on $17.06.

Iona continus to be hit by profit-taking and was down almost 5 per cent by midday in New York after falling almost $3 1/2 to $67 1/2. Other technology stocks to be hit in thin trading included Smartforce, which was down over $1 1/2 in morning trading at $45 1/2.