Volumes remained thin in Dublin yesterday, as the market held on to Monday's holiday mood in advance of the reporting season. Most interest was shown in the financials, with AIB seeing most trade. Four million shares changed hands in the stock, which closed the day down three cents at €13.30, having touched €13.40 in earlier trading.

Bank of Ireland also attracted reasonable attention, ending up 10 cents at €11.93. Dealers said that the stock has seen good buying support at levels below €12.

In other financials, Irish Life & Permanent's recent run was shaken somewhat, with the stock shedding 10 cents to close at €13.70. Dealers noted some profit-taking but said that the stock was still generating strong underlying demand.

Anglo Irish gained two cents on the day to reach €6.30 in decent two-way trading.

CRH also saw reasonable volumes, with 1.6 million shares traded. The stock accumulated losses throughout the day to close down 65 cents at €14.70. Greater interest was awarded to Independent Newspapers, which gained eight cents to reach €1.70, as 2.6 million shares were bought and sold.

One of the few companies to generate news yesterday was Riverdeep, which ended the day unchanged at €2.80 amid mixed reaction to its acquisition of Broderbund. Glanbia was also unchanged at €1.56, as investors awaited results due today.

Elsewhere, significant losers were Alphyra, which lost 15 cents to reach €1.20 in quiet trading, and Donegal Creameries, which was pushed down 14 cents to €2.05, again on the back of low volumes.

Gainers on the day included Ryanair, up 12 cents at €6.30, and Abbey, up 20 cents at €4.60.