Market Report

The market barely budged yesterday as trade remained lacklustre outside a few key players.

Most excitement came from Ryanair, which was boosted by a bullish statement from its annual general meeting, outlining continued confidence in the group's growth strategy. The stock won back some of its recent losses, closing 16 cents higher at €6.06, with four million shares traded in Dublin.

Bank of Ireland failed to rebound from Tuesday's weakness, dropping a further 19 cents to 10.57 as the bank's trading statement failed to impress British institutions. AIB also suffered, closing 22 cents lower at 13.11.

Other financials had a better day, with Anglo Irish Bank rising five cents to 9.50 and Irish Life & Permanent, which has come under pressure of late, rebounding 12 cents to 11.32. First Active added four cents to finish at 4.90.

Elsewhere, business was once again choppy, with volumes unimpressive. Independent News & Media was among the busy exceptions, with 2.6 million shares traded. The stock closed unchanged at 1.71 after going ex-dividend.

In other second-liners, Irish Continental Group, which was in the market for its own shares on Monday, gained 15 cents to close at 9.75 on low volume. Kingspan strengthened by five cents to finish at 3.45, while McInerney rose two cents to €3.92.

In the food sector, IAWS, which is due to report full-year results today, closed five cents higher at 8.90 on low volume. Donegal Creameries was one of the strongest performers on the day, again in quiet trade. Shares closed 10 cents higher at 3.35 after the company reported solid first-half numbers.