Dealers saw a "reasonable" day on the Dublin Stock Exchange as the ISEQ took its cue from London and the European markets, tracking upwards on the banks and the main stocks. The banks eased off a little on their day's highs, with AIB finishing 15p up at 997p, while Bank of Ireland was down 2p to 1538p after last week's record of 1575p.

Anglo Irish Bank was notable for achieving an intra-day high of 196p before settling 10p ahead of the day's opening at 194p. One dealer said that the interest was probably in anticipation of upbeat results due on May 6th.

Among the other financials Irish Life was up 5p to 700p and Hibernian gained 10 to 830p. However, Irish Permanent dropped 2p to 963p. Smurfit saw some renewed interest after last week's flurry of buying and its price climbed 4p up to its previous record of 236p. Greencore continued to meet approval on its Pauls Malt acquisition and notched up 1p more to 455p after last Friday's sterling price of 376p, while CRH continued its recovery, 6.5p up on the day at 1046.5p.

Kerry continued to make good on its recent gains and reached a new record with its closing 1085p, up 10p on the day. Continued interest in the food groups was reflected across most stock, with Avonmore Waterford up 3p to 323p, Fyffes up 5p to 175p and Golden Vale up 3p to 123p. IAWS bucked the trend with a 9p drop to 310p. There was broad-based buying among the second-liners, with FBD gaining 5p to 535p, Jurys losing 10p to 610p and Crean remaining the same at 155p.

First quarter results due from Iona late last night would be watched with interest, one dealer said, while yesterday's NASDAQ price was bidding well.

Irish bonds slipped lower across the curve in slack trade as softer German Bunds weighed, dealers said.

"It's been a quiet session so far, with markets off from the open," one trader said. "Bunds drifted back after a sluggish start in the US and we followed."