AFTER the hefty gains of the previous couple of days, profit taking dragged the market back from its all time highs, with most of the leaders suffering some weakness despite the 52 point rise in London and a firm opening on Wall Street.
Given that the share put on 20p after the Dauphin acquisition announcement, it was no great surprise that AIB slipped back and the share closed down 2p on 425p in Dublin. Heavy trading in AIB continued in London where over 2 million shares dealt and the share closed up 1 1/2p on 416p sterling.
Bank of Ireland eased 2p to 580p, while Irish Life - seemingly on a firm collision course with the union representing 400 sales staff - lost 4p to 275p.
Woodchester drifted 3p to 234p despite good results from 29.9 per cent associate Lookers. Irish Permanent was unchanged on its 521p high.
Among the industrials, further consideration of the JS Corp results, and particularly of the bearish outlook comments, pushed Smurfit down 4p to 170p.
CRH was 2p easier on 638p.
Among the second liners, Adare continued its impressive run and dealt up another 5 1/2p to a new 620p high. Fyffes was 1/2p easier on 113 1/2p ahead of results next Monday.
Greencore was 5p lower on 385p as beet farmers intensified their campaign for higher beet prices while IAWS jumped 12p to a new high of 180p.
Exploration stocks were dull but Kenmare dealt up 2 3/4p to 334p although the market was cautious about a British media report that Kenmare's partner in Mozambique, may be planning an offer for the Irish company.
