On what was effectively the last trading day before the Christmas break, the market meandered to a higher close, with marginally stronger banking shares boosting the index. New York trading saw a clutch of Irish shares rise dramatically as the Nasdaq moved ahead strongly.

It has been a truly dismal year for financial shares, so any improvement before the end of the year is noteworthy. Still, yesterday's gains were minuscule compared to the losses since both big banks hit their highs earlier in the year. AIB was 20 cents firmer on €11.20 (£8.82) while Bank of Ireland finished unchanged at €7.70 (£6.06).

The confirmation that Smurfit Stone is hiking its prices in the new year had little impact on Smurfit shares, which fell back four cents to €2.95 (£2.32) in very thin trading. Eircom was steady on €4.20 (£3.31) while CRH bounced back from earlier weakness but still closed 20 cents weaker on €20.50 (£16.15).

Elsewhere, Bula jumped 3/4 of a cent to 5 1/2 cents on speculation that its Libyan deal is near completion, Kingspan continued its good end-of-year run and closed another 20 cents stronger on €3.00 (£2.36) while Golden Vale was two cents firmer on €1.13 (£0.89) - the group has appointed Goodbody as its broker, a position formerly occupied by NCB. In New York, Esat went as high as $95 before falling back to its overnight level around $91 - well above the Telenor offer price. Trintech shareholders - by now accustomed to getting a roller-coaster ride - saw their shares up almost $10 to mark $60 as Dublin closed while Iona and Elan also notched up strong gains.