Market report: Shares slipped slightly overall in Dublin yesterday, failing to follow the post-Labor Day lead from New York on Tuesday.

The leading banks held onto recent gains, with Bank of Ireland adding three cent to solidify its position above the €13 level at €13.15, while AIB was four cent firmer on €17.94, although neither stock was busy.

Anglo Irish saw its positive start to the session undermined by news of the departure of John Rowan, the man responsible for building the bank's UK operation, who recently lost out to David Drumm for the chief executive's seat.

The news sent Anglo down from a session high of €11.65 to €11.26 at one stage, before it recovered a bit to close on €11.37, down eight cent on the day.

Irish Life & Permanent also surrendered some ground after reporting results that were broadly in line with forecasts.

The shares slid during the day as profit-taking and concern about the performance of banking operations took their toll. The shares ended the day at €15.15, down 25 cent.

The Doyle family were understood to be back in the market for shares in Jurys Doyle Hotels. Just over a million shares changed hands, with one tranche of almost 670,000 - a number that would bring the Doyle holding to 29.9 per cent - moving at €18.50.

The rest of the shares traded at between €18.15 and €18.35 with the stock closing at the lower level, down 20 cent on the day.

Elsewhere, Eircom was the most active share of the day, with more than eight million shares traded. The stock came off three cent after its recent rally, closing the day at €1.98. Paddy Power was one of the day's winners, despite a late marking of €14.05, which saw it end the day unchanged. News that troubles affecting UK-listed gaming group PartyGaming were specific to that company meant Paddy Power traded at around €14.20 for much of the afternoon.

Fyffes, which reports interim figures this morning, added five cent to €2.57.

Settlement Day: September 12th