The market was in lacklustre form yesterday, with activity spread fairly randomly across the board.

Most of the main players held up well at the close, with the larger financials among the best-supported. AIB finished five cents higher at €13.25 on reasonably good volume, with slightly disappointing results from 22.5 per cent holding, M&T, having little apparent effect. The bank delivered an upbeat presentation at a New York investor conference last Friday, at which it signalled a very respectable 4 per cent currency hit for 2003.

Bank of Ireland closed at €11.38, up eight cents on the day. Dealers cited strong demand for the stock, with some 10 million shares traded between London and Dublin.

The bank said it had bought back 100,000 shares at €10.92 on Friday.

Anglo Irish had a quiet day as it rose 10 cents to €12.85. Irish Life and Permanent climbed by the same measure to €13.00.

Outside the financials, Gresham provided one of the most dramatic moves on the day, with shares dropping 10 per cent to €1.05 amid expectations that a bid is unlikely to emerge before the Takeover Panel's Friday deadline. Fellow hotelier, Jurys Doyle, fell three cents to €9.80.

Greencore was again in the spotlight, with volume remaining more than healthy.

Shares were eight cents weaker at €3.47 by the close, with takeover rumours continuing to circulate.

Kingspan was boosted by an upbeat trading and outlook statement from UK insulation distributor, SIG. Shares in the firm rose 11 cents to €4.41. McInerney was also solid, with shares adding 20 cents to close at €5.40.

Iona Technologies continued to benefit from improving sentiment on the technology sector, with shares climbing a massive 17 per cent to €5.34.

Qualceram was again appealing to attract investors looking for a recovery play yesterday, with shares Dublin ReportSettlement Day: January 15th