With few technology shares having a primary listing on the Irish market, the rebound on Nasdaq had limited impact on trading in Dublin where the rises in prices were decidedly modest. Irish technology shares, which have taken a hammering in recent weeks staged a solid recovery but the sector remains nervous despite yesterday's recovery.
The biggest trading was in Eircom where more than 10 million shares traded between Dublin and London as the stock gained 10 cents to €3.30 despite ambiguous comments about the Eircell takeover from Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent.
The leading stocks were mixed with AIB up 16 cents to €13.08 while Bank of Ireland drifted one cent lower to €8.92. Likewise, CRH lost 10 cents to €17.10 while Smurfit gained five cents to €2.08 as the market digested the impact of the possible Weyerhaeuser/Willamette merger. Ryanair hit a new high of €10.12, a gain of 32 cents on the day.
Capital Bars - whose primary listing is in London and which seldom trades in Dublin - was the focus of unusually busy activity with almost four million shares trading at 43 cents. Dealers were mystified by the size of the dealing in Capital Bars, where only the O'Dwyers 46 per cent and Frank McLoone's 12 per cent stakes are big enough to be involved in deals of the scale of yesterday's trading in Dublin.
Technology shares were stronger across the board against the background of the excellent Vodafone figures and the Nasdaq recovery. The best performers were Iona,Trintech, Parthus and Baltimore.
