The revival of the old economy continued in full flow on the Dublin market to the extent that the ISEQ Overall Index roared ahead to a new closing high. There was continued movement of funds out of some of the technology shares although Baltimore managed to mark its formal debut on the FTSE-100 with a modest gain.

AIB and CRH, respectively the biggest old-economy financial and industrial shares were the star turns, with AIB leading the charge by the financials with a 76 1/2 cent jump to €9.50 while CRH continued its charge and soared €1.45 to €19.95. Bank of Ireland, however, could do no more than stand still on €6.30 although Irish Life was 30 cents higher on €8.25.

Elsewhere, Eircom saw demand and went as high as €4.75 before closing up 10 cents on €4.70. Fyffes was hit by its profit warning and slumped 60 cents to €2.70 while Independent was down five cents on €10.80 as the market digested the implications of the £385 million Belfast Telegraph acquisition. Smurfit was 13 cents higher on €2.31 while Waterford Wedgwood gained three cents to 94 cents.

Trintech's plans for a $270 million fundraising and a two-for-one split did not affect the shares on the Neuer Markt where they were unchanged on €140. Baltimore was £1.01 higher on its FTSE debut on £103.51 sterling but was trading $7 lower on $162 in midday Nasdaq trading. Riverdeep was also sharply lower on Nasdaq at midday - down $5 3/4 on $491/2 although Smartforce and Iona were both firmer.