THE Dublin market had a steady day with a number of stocks moving ahead slightly. The bright mood in London gave a boost to afternoon trade as blue-chip and second line stocks pushed forward.

Kingspan was one of the main movers of the day as the market reacted positively to the news that it was paying £8.6 million sterling for the Northern Ireland-based bulk container manufacturer S&D. Kingspan shares closed top firmer at 240p and dealers said the stock was very strong but illiquid The Kingspan acquisition was part-funded by the over-subscribed placing of 1.23 million shares at 225p each.

Kerry gained 5p to 520p in the wake of a comment from the company's chief executive Denis Brosnan who said that Kerry Coop's majority stake in the Agribusiness group may be reduced. Dealers said such a move would be welcomed as it would bring more liquidity to Kerry stock.

Both the main banks edged forward slightly, recovering ground lost in recent days. AIB ended up 1p at 351p while Bank of Ireland was 2p stronger at 440p. Irish Life moved up over 2 1/2p from 252.5p sterling to 248p while Irish Permanent was unchanged at 400p.

CRH closed up almost 2 1/2p at 502p, having started the day at 514p sterling. Smurfit was 2p firmer at 147p, while Independent gained 5p to close at 410p. Hibernian was also up 5p to 255p while Fyffes gained 3p to 106p.

The underperforming engineering group's Barlo and Jones Group, in which Dermot Desmond's International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) group has recently taken a stake, both traded up. Barlo, in which IlU has a 3.5 per cent holding, was up 2p to 34p while Jones Group gained 3p to 178p. IIU has recently bought a 3.3 per cent stake in Jones.