A cautious early rally on the Dow sent most European bourses upwards yesterday and the ISEQ followed suit, gaining 0.62 per cent on the day. The focus continued to be on industrial stocks at the expense of the financials.

Irish Life & Permanent's market debut was, consequently, inauspicious but positive with light trading resulting in the stock adding 5 cents to close at €14.15 (£11.14).

AIB gained 20 cents to close at €14.70 (£11.58). Its US First Mary- land subsidiary announced pre-tax profits of $42.4 million (€39.95 million) for the first quarter.

Bank of Ireland was back 5 cents at £12.15 sterling (€18.40), while Anglo Irish held its ground at €2.85 (£2.24).

CRH continued its bull run, rising by 35 cents to a new record high of €18.90 (£14.88), a climb described as "quite phenomenal" considering its price/earnings ratio of about 25. Smurfit, however, eased back for

the second day in a row, closing down to £1.645 sterling (€2.49), a drop of 11 cents.

But value continues to be sought in second-liners. Greencore gained 8 cents, closing at €3.68 (£2.90), and US investment fund, Putnam, declared that it no longer holds any of the company's stock after recent trading. Bank of Ireland Nominees Ltd stated it now holds 9 per cent of the stock.

Grafton gained 50 cents or 28 per cent, closing at €18.50 (£14.57) on a positive trade statement, Green Property gained 13 cents, rising to €5.60 (£4.41) and Ryan Hotels was up 5 cents to 83 cents (65p). Independent, which raised €200 million in a bond issue, eased back 2.5 cents to €4.70 (£3.70).

Among the exploration stocks, Ovoca was 3 cents higher at 43 cents, Tullow was 2 cents better at 68 cents (54p) and Ivernia gained 10 cents, closing at 75 cents (59p).