Dublin Report: The Irish stock market continued its New Year advance yesterday, closing 0.7 per cent higher with the ISEQ's all-time high of 6,447 now firmly within sight.

Dealers said an investor conference run by Davy Stockbrokers in New York on Friday had helped to focus attention on the Irish market and the strong Irish economy.

"There are a lack of good ideas in Europe. There are very few good growth stories," one trader said, noting that Irish stocks remained in good shape without being overly expensive.

The gains were again well spread across the board with most stocks moving ahead.

Among the financial stocks, Anglo Irish Bank stood out, adding a further 27 cent or 1.4 per cent to €19.17. AIB and Bank of Ireland managed more modest gains of 15 cent and six cent to €15.55 and €12.40 respectively. Only Irish Life & Permanent missed out, shedding 30 cent or 2 per cent to €14.20.

Dealers reported good interest in Ryanair which added 10 cent to €5.75 as Dutch bank ABN AMRO upgraded its rating on the airline to "add" from "hold" and lifted its share price target to €6.00.

Elan also advanced, gaining 40 cent or nearly 2 per cent in Dublin to €21.30 while DCC added 25 cent or 1.5 per cent to €17.00 ahead of the resumption of its High Court battle with Fyffes today.

In the construction sector, CRH closed 16 cent higher at €19.91 while Kingspan added three cent to €7.38 ahead of the release of a trading update later this week.

The weaker performers on the day included Grafton, which gave up 10 cent to €8.50 amid profit-taking following its gains in the wake of last week's approval of its purchase of Heiton. Kerry Group also closed 20 cent lower at €17.95 as the prospect of a rights issue, to fund a large acquisition, continued to weigh on the shares.

Among the smaller stocks, Abbey reclaimed some of the ground recently lost, adding 14 cent to €8.00.