Market Report: The Iseq finished the day little changed as volumes remained depressed and international markets provided little direction.

Dealers noted that just half a million shares in AIB changed hands as the stock added 16 cent to €16.66.

Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland added 10 cent to €12.70 as it announced the long-awaited sale of its Bristol & West branch network in the UK for a higher-than-expected £150 million (€218 million).

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Irish Life & Permanent closed unchanged at €13.55 while Anglo Irish Bank gave up 17 cent to €9.87.

CRH gave up some of Monday's gains, closing 39 cent, or 1.9 per cent, lower at €20.63, also in light volume of less than 800,000 shares.

In the food sector, Kerry Group added 30 cent, or 1.5 per cent, to €20.20 as shareholders at its annual meeting were told that the group expected to report earnings in line with market expectations.

There were no surprises either at the Fyffes annual meeting and the shares closed two cent higher at €2.32, while Greencore edged up by five cent to €3.24 ahead of the release of first-half results today.

Jurys Doyle added five cent to €15.20 as dealers said the shares were treading water ahead of further developments in the takeover situation at the company.

Independent News & Media closed three cent higher at €2.48 as it received Indian government approval to buy a stake in the publisher of the country's largest Hindi-language newspaper.

In London, Vodafone shares lost 4.8 per cent to 139.50p as concerns about rising competition overshadowed news of a £4.5 billion share buyback and robust earnings and dividend payout.

In the exploration sector, Dragon Oil closed three cent, or 2.2 per cent, lower at €1.31 as the company denied reports that its majority shareholder, Enoc, had sold its stake to Russian oil major Lukoil.Dublin

ReportSettlement Date: May 27th