Dublin report Ciara O'BrienThe markets were somewhat subdued yesterday as investors waited with bated breath for the latest move from the US.

All eyes were on the Fed in anticipation of the announcement of another rate cut.

After the turmoil of recent days, the Iseq finished more than 35 points up at 6755.88, just over half a per cent gain. Although one trader describing the market as "floating" for the day, there was some good news on the Iseq.

The financials shrugged off the news that UBS had unexpected writedowns of €2.7 billion relating to subprime pressures, with most gaining throughout the day. AIB may have only finished marginally up at €15.144, a gain of just over 4 cent or 0.29 per cent, but Anglo Irish fared a little better, gaining 18 cent to close €9.53. Bank of Ireland gained slightly more than 4 cent to finish at €10.01. Irish Life & Permanent ended the day at €11.12, a 31 cent or 2.9 per cent rise on the previous day.

C&C's appointment of John Holberry as chairman of the Magner's unit in Britain gave the stock a boost, pushing it up more than 1 cent to €4.15.

The oil companies were boosted by oil prices hovering around $92, with Dragon Oil rising 9 cent to €5.150, and Tullow up 10 cent to €7.74.

The announcement of CRH's acquisition of a 26 per cent stake in Chinese company Yatai Cement buoyed the stock, but it gave up some gains to close at €25.838, down 31 cent.

Kingspan, meanwhile, was off 3.26 per cent, losing 33 cent to finish at €9.79.

Paddy Power rose 35 cent to €19.32 on the back of a strong trading update from Party Gaming, in which the company said its revenue increased by 52 per cent to $120 million in the fourth quarter, and a 38 per cent increase for the full year.