MARKET REPORT: The stock market barely budged yesterday, despite a strong performance from its nearest neighbour as the FTSE hit its highest levels in seven weeks.
Irish investors remained on the sidelines, however, reflecting the summer lull and caution ahead of a decision on US interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
CRH continued to drift lower after the recent strong run, losing 20 cents to 15.40. But most other stocks were confined to tighter trading ranges.
In the financial sector, the picture was mixed as AIB lost three cents to 12.35, Bank of Ireland added six cents to 10.54 and Anglo Irish Bank gained nine cents to 8.47.
Independent News & Media enjoyed healthy volumes, with more than six million shares traded although the stock closed three cents lower at 1.58. The company's APN associate recorded a strong first-half performance with net profits up 24 per cent. APN also announced plans for a refinancing, including the issue of 28 million shares to raise at least 99 million Australian dollars.
Other movers included Paddy Power - which has been embroiled in a controversy over the sponsorship of hurleys - which added 15 cents to €6.15.
Galen, which has been faced with the controversy over the side effects of hormone replacement therapy, continued to recoup some of the ground lost recently with a gain of 35 cents to €8.75.
Among secondline stocks, Arcon saw above-average volume of more than 900,000 as the shares inched up to 0.037 from 0.035, while 5.7 million shares in Real Estate Opportunities changed hands, although the stock closed unchanged at 1.35.
