Results from the Irish Permanent and AIB are expected to inject some vigour into the Dublin market next week, after the relatively sluggish last few days.

The week was dominated by new record highs in New York which bounded forward after a six-month slump dominated by unresolved worries about the Asian economies.

Wall Street decided to throw caution to the wind and some of the larger stocks made unprecedented gains.

None of this seemed to spur on dealers in Dublin and modest profit-taking continued to dog some of the bigger Irish shares.

Worries over the situation in the Middle-East are tending to keep a lid on all the markets and this looks set to continue.

In Dublin Golden Vale, AIB and Elan were the three stocks everyone seemed to be have an interest in.

Mr Dermot Desmond's International Investment and Underwriting decided to sell out of Golden Vale making a substantial profit on its holding.

Speculation about acquisitions, like Rye Valley, look set to support the demand for the shares in the weeks ahead. AIB's share price began the week at 806p but, by Thursday, it had risen to 835p on the back of pre-results speculation.

The performance of AIB contrasted with Bank of Ireland, which suffered a series of downward lurches, starting the week at 1240p but dropping to 1200p yesterday.

Elan Corporation's shares benefitted from the strong dollar and a good performance of its stock on Wall Street.

Dealers said the final completion of the Sano Corporation deal was the another reason for the shares to jump.

"It's a stock seen to have longterm potential," according to one dealer.

Irish Permanent performed strongly throughout the week, threatening to pass the 1000p mark, mainly on the basis of an analyst's forecasts that the company's pre-tax profits are likely to rise by 12 per cent to £54 million, when its results are announced on Tuesday.

Other analysts said that, while the company's results may show some erosion of margins, due to its reliance on wholesale rather than retail funding, underlying business would still be very strong.

Powerscreen has continued to hog the lower end of the market, although there has been some steadying in recent days - mainly because one or two large buyers have come into the market.