Telecom Eireann shares slipped by nearly 2 per cent yesterday, providing the main talking point on a market starved of news to inspire it.
After climbing by nearly 3 per cent on Friday, the shares gave up nine cents to close at €4.66 (£3.67). But they remain 19.5 per cent above their issue price of €3.90 (£3.07) ahead of the start of official trading on Wednesday.
Traders said private investors were active in the market and the stock seemed to be settling into a trading range after the euphoria of last week. But the technical position of the stock, or how much of the demand from institutional investors had been satisfied, remains uncertain.
Overall, the Irish market closed broadly unchanged as other European stock markets ended off their highs, though remaining in positive territory, as Wall Street turned negative after initially opening higher.
In Dublin, the main banking stocks were slightly weaker although traders said dealing volumes were light. AIB closed at €13.32 (£10.49), down 10.5 cents on the day, while Bank of Ireland lost 25 cents to close at €17.65 (£13.90).
CRH was one of the few leading stocks to move higher, benefiting from positive comment in Saturday's Lex column in the Financial Times which described last week's €413 million (£325 million) acquisition of US materials group Thomspon-McCully as "another textbook deal". The stock closed 22 cents higher at €19.50 (£15.36).
Elan was also sharply higher, gaining 3.6 per cent to €30.75 (£24.22), amid hopes about its recent progress in trials that could lead to a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.
