A strong performance from Elan helped to push the Iseq into positive territory this afternoon.
A 7 per cent rise in the pharmaceutical company's share price by 4.30pm to €16.95 saw the Iseq tack on 11 points, or just under 0.2 per cent, to 5,649.
Other strong performers on the day were Kingspan, Norkom and Ryanair.
The market reacted well to Kingspan's decision to buy back up to 10 per cent of the company's shares and its announcement that it was actively engaged in looking at possible acquisitions worth around €100 million. By 4.30pm it had added 32 cents onto its share price to stand at €6.25.
Financial crime and compliance solutions company Norkom posted pre-tax profits of €4.9 million for the year ended March 31st, 2008, up nearly 12 per cent from €4.3 million on the same period last year, while revenues jumped 64 per cent to €41 million. Its share price advanced 10 per cent as it tacked on 15 cents to €1.65 on the back of this news.
Despite oil prices remaining very high, Ryanair staged a rally which saw it more than 3 per cent stronger this afternoon at €3.
With the exception of Kingspan, other construction stocks remained weak. CRH shed 17 cents to €21.18, while Readymix was 3 cents weaker at €1.19.
Financial stocks were under pressure again today, but they largely avoided yesterday's carnage when many were sold off strongly. By 4.30pm, AIB had shed 6 cents to €11.59, while Bank of Ireland was 7 cents weaker at €6.68. Anglo Irish Bank dropped 10 cents to €7.03.
National indexes retreated in all 18 western European markets except Ireland as European stocks fell for the fifth day, the longest losing streak in two months on concerns that central banks will raise borrowing costs to combat inflation, while declining metal prices weighed on commodity producers.
France's CAC 40 fell 0.7 per cent. The UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.6 per cent, as did Germany's DAX.