The Irish stock market moved ahead again yesterday as most of the leading stocks posted modest gains. Drink and snacks group C&C and food group Greencore stood out on the day as the ISEQ index of Irish shares logged a gain of half a percentage point.

More than two million C&C shares changed hands as the stock rose by 13 cents, or more than 4 per cent, to €3.21 on foot of some aggressive buying.

NCB has upgraded its price target for the shares to €3.70, citing the company's resilience and the recent re-rating of many of its Irish peers.

Greencore had a good day, gaining 12 cents, or nearly 3.7 per cent, to €3.39 as more than 1.2 million shares changed hands.

The big loser on the day was Donegal Creameries, which closed 35 cents, or 7.5 per cent, lower at €4.30 in the wake of a profit warning. However, the shares rebounded from an earlier low of €3.90, or a fall of 16 per cent, as the property-based nature of the company lent support to the share price.

Elsewhere, shares price movements were more modest. AIB added 10 cents to €15.50, Bank of Ireland was up by 12 cents to €12.50 and Anglo Irish gained 9 cents to €19.12. Only Irish Life & Permanent gave up ground, closing 9 cents lower at €14.31, despite a strong performance from British insurers in the wake of good figures from Aviva.

Shares in Elan, which have been under pressure of late, clawed back some lost ground to close 15 cents higher in Dublin at €20.35. In New York, their main market, the shares were up 22 cents to $25.80 by the Irish close.

Ryanair shares added 11 cents, or nearly 2 per cent, to €5.75 as the market awaits the release of third quarter results on Monday.

Other movers yesterday included Jurys Doyle, which was up 10 cents to €13.20. In the technology sector, Iona was up by 17 cents or 4 per cent to €4.35 after announcing that telecoms group Marconi had selected its Artix product.

Fyffes was unchanged at €2.03 with volume of three million.