Settlement date June 21st: The Iseq Index of Irish shares rose 6.56 points to 6,383.93 on a day characterised by high volumes in leading stocks.

AIB's trading statement, which revealed that the bank expects better-than-forecast interim earnings, led to strong demand for the Republic's biggest bank. It closed 17 cent up at €17.25 after more than 2.2 million shares changed hands on the day.

The bank stated that it had a low level of bad debts on its books. This eased investors' fears about Irish banks' levels of non-performing loans and they displayed similar enthusiasm for other financials.

Around two million shares were traded in Bank of Ireland, which hit highs of €12.79 before closing level at €12.70

Some 2.15 million units changed hands in Anglo Irish Bank, which touched the €10 level before closing four cent off at €9.88.

Irish Life & Permanent, owner of mortgage market leader Permanent TSB, added three cent to close at €13.93.

A big trade in Jurys Doyle hotel group near the close of business drove volumes in the stock to 1.7 million.

However, dealers did not attach any significance to the large order and it closed unchanged at €15.10.

Elsewhere in the market, Wednesday's rise in crude oil prices shaved six cent off Ryanair, which closed at €6.39 after 3.5 million shares were sold on the day.

Crystal and china manufacturer Waterford Wedgwood produced the other notable corporate news yesterday when it announced pretax losses approaching €150 million for 2004. The stock dipped by almost 2 per cent to close at 5.2 cent.

Building materials specialist CRH benefited from generally good news in its sector and its shares rose two cent to close at €21.77.

Elan gained 11 cent to close at €5.80 on the back of news that it is researching treatments for Parkinson's Disease.