MARKET REPORT: The market closed just a shade weaker last night after a day of fairly uneventful trade. Dealers said investors were continuing to wait on the sidelines to see if the market could take a particular direction.

The financials as a whole ended about 0.3 per cent lower, although Irish Life & Permanent bucked the trend in advance of a trading update due today. Shares in the banking and life group closed 35 cent stronger at €18.25 on reasonable volume.

Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo Irish closed flat at €11.10, while AIB shed 10 cent to finish at €18.25. Bank of Ireland ended the session 17 cent weaker at €13.75.

CRH performed fairly well in early trade but eased back as the close approached, finishing 16 cent lower at €24.94. The group is seen as a possible suitor for a roofing business likely to sold by Lafarge. The French building materials group updated investors yesterday, making positive noises about the plasterboard market. This in turn helped Kingspan, where shares climbed by 19 cent to €13.10.

Ryanair had a good day, rising by five cent to €7.20 after receiving a positive analysis from Citigroup.

Greencore also performed well, adding 11 cent to close at €3.71. The firm has awarded options over 100,000 shares at €3.60 to its chief financial officer, Patrick Coveney. Group development director Geoff Doherty received options over 50,000 shares at the same price. Both sets of options are exercisable between 2009 and 2016.

Fyffes was solid as it rose by four cent to €1.42.

DCC added 33 cent to close at €18.05.

Independent News & Media was one cent stronger at €2.26. A block of 5.5 million shares, about 0.7 per cent of the company, changed hands at €2.24 in London. Still in London, Tullow stood out by rising 12p to 334.5p.

Back in Dublin, South Wharf was a star performer, climbing by 25 cent to €4.60 on tiny volume.