The Irish index of shares was trading slightly up this afternoon, paring earlier gains following the publication of data showing new US housing starts and permits unexpectedly fell in July.
After climbing as much as 2.5 per cent throughout the day's trade, CRH stock was trading up 1.4 per cent to €17.77 by 2.30pm.
Bloxham stockbrokers published a review yesterday that said CRH offered investors the best prospects of the three Dublin-listed companies in its sector, with analyst Paraic Quinn saying that that CRH is Bloxham's "clear top pick" on the basis of both value and short-term outlook.
The group's exposure to the US means that it will be a primary beneficiary of that country's economic stimulus programme, which relies heavily on road building and other public construction projects.
Grafton, which was also included in the review, reversed earlier gains to slip 1.9 per cent to €3.07, following the release of the US data, with Kingspan down 4.5 per cent to €5.20.
Readymix shares fell 5.8 per cent as the company admitted challenging trading conditions had led to a pre-tax loss of €6.9 million for the six-month period, in line with expectations from Goodbody Stockbrokers. There was little movement in the stock throughout the day, with shares down to 16 cent by 2.30pm.
Greencore was also trading down today, following the news that Ulster Bank has moved to block any sale by property developer Liam Carroll of over half his 29.5 per cent stake in the food group. After losing as much as 5.5 per cent in early trade, with prices slipping to €1.20, the stock gained back some of its losses to climb to €1.26 by 2.30pm.
At the opposite end of the market, United Drug held on to a 1.5 per cent rise to €2.02, after falling back from earlier gains of 3.4 per cent.
Merrion Stockbrokers earlier upgraded the stock to buy.
"We believe United Drug's earnings have reached an inflection point," analyst Sam Farthing said in a research note, adding that the stockbroker was confident that full year 2009 targets would be met.
The research note mentioned a number of potential catalysts for upgrades through 2010, including a recovery in the packaging division and swine flu related volume increases in a number of businesses.
"At 7.9x calendarised earnings and a forecasted dividend yield of 3.8 per cent we consider the valuation attractive even without upgrades," the note said.
European shares pared gains this afternoon following the release of the US data.
At 1332 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 per cent at 928.48 points after rising to a high of 932.65 earlier in the session.
The benchmark index, which has soared 44 per cent since reaching a floor in March, tumbled 2 per cent on Monday, falling along with stock markets around the world on concerns markets had gone ahead of the global economic recovery.
"The housing data summarises the uncertainty that still surrounds the housing market," said an analyst in London.
"The market is likely to remain volatile and the volatility is being added to by the traditional August holiday season. The market is expected to trade sideways for the next two to three weeks, with a downward bias," he added.
Financial stocks remained the top gainers in Europe, with Standard Chartered, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland gaining 0.6 to 1.9 per cent.
Swedbank jumped 9.5 per cent a day after the bank surprised markets with a $2.1 billion rights issue to boost its balance sheet hit by bad debts in the Baltics, which triggered rating upgrades from a number of brokers.
Miners gained ground, with Rio Tinto up 1.5 per cent after agreeing to sell its Alcan packaging unit for about $2 billion to Australia's Amcor, easing its debt burden after an ill-timed acquisition two years ago.
Anglo American added 0.3 per cent, BHP Billiton rose 0.7 per cent and Xstrata gained 2.4 per cent.
Data also showed that US producer prices also fell by larger-than expected amount in July and notched a record decline compared with a year ago as gasoline prices plummeted.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 to 0.4 per cent.
Additional reporting: Reuters