Tullow Oil was the star on what was a quiet day around Europe yesterday as the US was closed to mark the birth date of the Rev Martin Luther King.

Despite the lacklustre tone, Europe's main indexes managed to move upwards, and Ireland was no exception, gaining just over half a per cent.

Tullow, which trades mainly in London, jumped more than 9 per cent in Dublin yesterday and closed up 7.2 per cent in London after announcing positive results from its drilling activities in Uganda.

Dealers said investors had been waiting for updates on the group's Ugandan activities and welcomed the announcement yesterday that it had found three new oil-bearing zones at its Kingfisher well.

The stock closed up 52 cent at €6.14, though volume was light with only 49,494 shares changing hands. In London however, demand was strong, with more than 19 million units trading and helping to push the stock up 27 pence, to £4.03.

Independent News & Media was one of the few other stocks on the Irish market to attract any decent interest, with almost 8.3 million units changing hands. The shares, however, ended up just 2 cent, at €2.95.

Elsewhere, Blackrock continued its recent good run, adding a 3.6 per cent, though volumes were significantly lower than last week when a property developer was rumoured to have been building a stake in the group. The shares closed at 58 cent, with no individual large trades evident.

C&C, meanwhile, had a rollercoaster kind of day, which saw the drinks group regain some of the ground it lost last Thursday on the back of market share concerns and a broker downgrade.

The stock rose to €12.50, before falling back to close up 15 cent, or 1.2 per cent, at €12.35.