Modest recoveries on international markets had little impact on the Irish market where prices were generally lower and with some unusually chunky trading in some of the larger capitalisation stocks.

Both big banks traded in size with almost 2.5 million AIB shares trading as the share added 5 cents to €11.20. More than 2.7 million Bank of Ireland shares dealt as the share drifted 8 cents to €9.10. With the rights issue fiasco finally cleared, CRH added 10 cents to €17.90 while Eircom was unchanged at €2.32. In New York, Elan was trading firmly and by midday was up 89 cents on $51.52 in heavy volumes.

Smurfit failed to be lifted by reports of more downtime at Smurfit Stone plants in the US. The share lost 3 cents to €1.88 on 1.7 million shares. Waterford Wedgwood lost 5 cents to €1.07 on more than 2 million shares. The stock is now down almost 24 per cent from its 2001 high.

The DCM market rarely generates much news, but one Irish institution was content to snap up a 7 per cent chunk of Sherry Fitzgerald stock being sold by directors and management at a price of €1.70, 12 cents below the previous mark.

In London, Baltimore's woes continued after the Entrust profits warning. The stock fell another 43/4p to 64p sterling in turnover of more than 10 million shares. Parthus was also weak, closing down 3 1/2p at 71 1/2p sterling.