Dublin Report Settlement Day: August 13thIrish shares closed modestly lower yesterday, as international markets spent most of the day in wait-and-see mode ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting.

The ISEQ index closed 18 points lower as oil remained a prime concern with the price of a barrel topping $45, hitting stocks like CRH and Ryanair. Shares in CRH shed 22 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to €17.84 amid concerns about the impact of the rising oil price on its raw materials cost while Ryanair gave up a further two cents, or 0.5 per cent, to €4.06.

On a positive note, Warner Chilcott shares added nearly 5 per cent to 576.5 pence sterling in London as close to eight million shares changed hands in the wake of third quarter results.

The results were ahead of consensus expectations and were well-received after recent nervousness about the company's performance. In Dublin, the shares added 21 cents or 2.5 per cent to €8.56 as the company announced the buyback of 1.5 million shares at a price of 576.8 pence each.

Elsewhere, in the pharmaceutical sector Elan remained weak despite the absence of newsflow on the stock. In Dublin, the shares gave up 75 cents, or more than 5 per cent to €13.40.

In the financial sector, the two main banks moved ahead, helped by continued merger and acquisition speculation in the sector. AIB added 16 cents to €12.81 while Bank of Ireland was up 14 cents at €10.79 as talk of a bid for British bank Barclays persisted.

Dealers reported some selling of C&C, which lost seven cents or 2.7 per cent to €2.56.

Other movers yesterday included Kingspan, which drifted off 10 cents to €4.70 and Grafton, down 14 cents to €6.60 as investors who now find themselves overweight in the stock moved to sell. Heiton was unchanged at €6.33 as just 13,000 shares changed hands.

Iona Technologies, however, went against the general trend to add 15 cents or 5 per cent to €2.90.