Market report:It was a very quiet day in the Irish market yesterday, with only 3.4 million shares trading in total - a figure normally reached by one of the banks alone.

The lack of activity was the result of public holidays in the US and the UK.

The overall Iseq index of Irish shares ended the day little changed at 9,927.59.

Property group Blackrock was the only Irish-listed company to release any news yesterday, revealing details of a €14.7 million investment in land in the UK and Ireland.

However, the group's shares failed to react to the news and ended the day unchanged at 51 cent. Fewer than 100,000 units changed hands.

Elsewhere pharmaceutical group Elan lost some of the ground it gained last week when it jumped 25 per cent, slipping 3.5 per cent, or 51 cent, to €14.18. Volume, however, was very light, with only 72,492 shares changing hands.

Irish Continental Group was one of the busier stocks of the day, although still only 250,000 shares changed hands. The shares closed down 1.4 per cent, or 30 cent, at €20.50. At the end of last week the company's independent directors asked the takeover panel to impose a deadline for the One51 Capital/Doyle Group consortium to clarify its intentions concerning the ferry group.

Independent News & Media (IN&M) continued its recent gains, adding 1.6 per cent, or 6 cent, to close at €3.75. On Friday it emerged that IN&M had bought 7.4 million of its own shares at a cost of €27.5 million, a move viewed by some as an attempt by Sir Anthony O'Reilly to prevent Denis O'Brien increasing his stake.

Settlement day: May 31st