THE Dublin market moved ahead in busy trading yesterday following the stronger tread in London and New York.

Most attention was centred on the financial stocks, with the financial index hitting a new 12-month high. Dealers reported good two-way trading by overseas and domestic investors.

AIB moved strongly ahead, gaining 5p to 366p on the day. Bank of Ireland was also in demand, pushing the stock up 3p to 473p.

Irish Permanent continued to forge ahead to reach another record of 423p, up 3p on its previous closing levels. Woodchester was also able to notch up gains on the day, moving from 187p to 190p following its strong interim results on Thursday.

Industrial stocks were also in good demand but were unable to move ahead. CRH slipped a penny to 615p while Smurfit was also down by the same margin on 163p.

Food stocks enjoyed mixed fortunes. Avonmore gained 5p to 155p, Golden Vale put on a 1/2p to 57p while Kerry eased back 5p to close at 600p. Fyffes lost a penny at 102p while Greencore put on 5p to 319p.

Among the second-liners, Crean edged lower, ending the day down 5p at 215p, IWP gained 5p to 485p and Waterford Wedgwood moved up 2p to 80p. Kingspan continued its recent good run, adding another 15p to 460p and Independent was up 1/4p to 295 1/4p

Irish bonds continued to surge in active trading, boosted by foreign buying on the back of positive official inflation figures this week.