The last half-day trading before Christmas is traditionally a wind-down session, with most business either having been previously completed or put on hold until the Christmas-New Year trading period. And so it was on the Dublin market yesterday - with the predictable exception of Eircom, where there was sizeable trading in the wake of the confirmation of the sale of Eircell.

Eircom closed unchanged on €2.70, after opening at €2.80 and dipping to an intra-day low of €2.65. Volume in Dublin was more than 2.6 million shares with a further one million trading in London. Dealers say the obvious influence on Eircom shares from here will be the Vodafone share prices.

Elsewhere, Smurfit edged two cents lower to €1.98 despite an extremely bullish report on the group from company broker UBS Warburg.

Warburg analysts say that Smurfit is comfortable with second half earnings forecasts of €0.15 a share and that full-year 2000 is likely to see pre-tax profits of €469 million against €167 million last year. Warburg has increased its price target for Smurfit shares from €2.80 to €3.20.

Elsewhere, it was dull. Bank shares were mixed with Bank of Ireland up six cents on €10.05 while AIB drifted 10 cents lower to €12.30.

CRH gained 12 cents to €19.03 while Dunloe Ewart drifted a cent lower to €0.43 as director Mr Noel Murray sold his entire holding of 555,556 shares at €0.44. Ryanair lost 12 cents to €10.88.

With Nasdaq bounding ahead in early trading, Irish technology stocks were trading well with Iona, Smartforce and Trintech the pick of the bunch.