HEAVY trading in AIB and Smurfit shares in London were the dominant features of an otherwise featureless Irish equity market which closed down marginally on the day in line with a mildly weaker day in London.
The bulk of trading in most Irish stocks - the exceptions being the exploration stocks - tends to take place in Dublin. But the trading in AIB and Smurfit was an exception, with one million AIB and 1.3 million Smurfit shares trading on the London market.
That unusual level of trading did not have any major impact on prices, with AIB edging 1p lower on 395p, while Smurfit was unchanged on 163p.
The sharp two per cent rise in the life assurance sector in London in the wake of the £12 billion merger of UAP and Axa did little for Irish Life, which was lp easier on 270p.
Bank of Ireland ended the day up 1p on 511p ahead of today's interim results. CRH fell 3p to 633p as most of the leading stocks in the British building materials sector moved lower.
Fyffes gained 2p to 106p with dealers suggesting that the strength of sterling against the pound at Fyffes' October year end will boost profits when sterling earnings are translated into the Irish currency.
Greencore was down 1p on 354p but Northern Ireland Electricity - which will be among the top 10 stocks in Dublin when it joins the ISEQ Index - fell 8 1/2p to 358p on profit taking.
Elan fell $5/8 as Merrill Lynch - in a cautionary note - suggested that the recent strong run in shares had gone far enough.
