Heavy demand for the two big cyclical industrial stocks drove both Smurfit and CRH well ahead in a hectic day's trading, which still saw the market close lower as the heavy selling of Elan and weakness in the two big banks took their toll on the index.

The move into cyclical industrial stocks in Dublin was reflected in London. Smurfit - boosted by a Salomon Smith Barney upgrade - has soared since the positive trading statement with its results and the shares rose as high as €2.70 (£2.13) yesterday before closing up 26 cents on the day on €2.60 (£2.05). On Nasdaq, Smurfit Stone was also firmer and reached its highest level since last year's merger announcement at just above $22.

Building materials stocks in the US and UK have risen sharply in the past couple of days and CRH was in strong demand yesterday, hitting a high of €18.10 (£14.25) before closing up 45 cents on €17.80 (£14.02).

Elan, however, continued to slide in heavy trading in New York. In the space of six weeks the company has lost one-third of its market value as the shares plunged from $87.75 to yesterday's low of $59 (€55.24), not assisted by a heavy overnight fall by Pfizer. Investors have not been reassured by recent presentations by the group management and Elan seems set to struggle in the market for some time to come.

Bank shares were weaker in thin trading, with AIB off 20 cents on €15.45 (£12.17) and Bank of Ireland 5 cents easier on €18.95 (£14.92). Among second-liners, Crean was unchanged on €1.05 (83p) as director Mr Martin Delaney disclosed that he bought 55,000 shares at €1.10 (87p) and €1.15 (91p).

Improved commodity prices pushed Ivernia up five cents to 47 cents (37p) while Ryanair continued its headlong rush, adding 29 cents to reach another new high of €8.88 (£6.99), not far short of the €9.10 (7.17) target set for the shares recently by Morgan Stanley. Silvermines was two cents firmer on 38 cents (30p) as potential bidder TT disclosed that its stake is now over 6 per cent.