THE surge by the two big financial shares on the Dublin market finally came to a halt despite the move to a new high in London. The market, however, is well-supported at these levels and yesterday's fractional downward move does not indicate that the current bull market has come to an end.

Both bank shares saw sizeable trading, especially Bank of Ireland on the London market where 1.6 million shares dealt. In Dublin, Bank of Ireland drifted down 2p to 576p while AIB dealt as high as 419p before closing unchanged on the day on 417p.

Bid speculation did not prevent Woodchester falling 4p to 232p as some investors took profit after the recent strong rise in the share price. Among the industrials, CRH continued to improve and closed up 4p on 640p while Smurflt was 1/2p easier on 176p.

The £8 million acquisition by Clondalkin was announced after the market closed but it should be well-received as another earnings-enhancing move by the packaging company. Clondalkin closed 5p firmer on 505p. Threats of a beet farmer boycott of its Grassland fertiliser subsidiary did not prevent Greencore rising 2p to a new high of 390p.

Continued positive broker comment pushed Jurys to a new high of 295p while heavy trading in Tullow continued on the London market where the share fell 8p to 87 1/2p sterling as 5.6 million shares dealt. In Dublin, Tullow jumped 5 1/2p to 96p but in this case, Dublin lags the trading in London.

Gilts came off their best levels in afternoon trading in line with some selling pressure on the German market. Five-year gilts were pretty much unchanged on a yield of 5.82 per cent although price gains were marked further out the curve where 10-year gilts closed up 15p on a yield of 6.67 per cent while 20-year gilts were 30p higher on a yield of 6.78 per cent.