A SHARP fall by CRH was the main factor behind the 17 point fall in the ISEQ index, but a late recovery in London, which was not reflected in Dublin trading, suggests that the current bout off selling of CRH may have come to an end.

The share has been offered all week as investors took profits after the recent strong run and, from its overnight 638p, fell to a close of 645p sterling (629 1/2p) in Dublin.

In London, however, the shares bounced in after hours trading and dealt up to 658p sterling. The recent profit taking has not involved any huge volumes of CRH shares and at last night's London close, the prospects of further weakness are limited.

One stock where huge volumes have been traded this week is Greencore, and more than 5.5 Gillion shares (adjusted for doublecounting) have traded in the past couple of days.

Previous heavy trading in the shares has mainly been due to selling by Morgan Grenfell but it is not clear if this is the case this week. Greencore was 6p lower on 350p yesterday but dealers believe this may be a floor for the shares.

Financial shares were supported by the firmer tone on domestic and international bond markets and most of the stocks closed close to their overnight levels - a penny up or a penny down.

Among second liners, IAWS was well bid on 171p ahead of results next week, Independent lost 7 1/2p to 327 1/2p while Smurfit was 1p lower on 171p as the US paper sector weakened overnight.

Tullow did not trade in Dublin but fell 5p to 97p sterling in London ahead of interim results and an expected exploration update tomorrow.