Iseq: 2,566.22 (+28.76) Settlement date: August 22nd:THE ISEQ index was one of the better performers in Europe yesterday, lifted by positive turns from its largest components CRH and Ryanair.

Building materials giant CRH advanced almost 1 per cent, or 10.5 cent, to finish at €12.40 yesterday after posting decent first-half numbers on Tuesday. The stock was also boosted by the release of results yesterday by its peer Wienerberger, which came in slightly ahead of expectations and which may have a positive read-through for CRH’s European products division.

Ryanair continued the recovery evident since the middle of last week, nudging up by another three cent yesterday to finish at €3.14.

Ingredients and flavours group Kerry also helped to “move the dial” on the Iseq yesterday, a broker said, as it delivered one of the strongest performances on the day.

After reporting a positive first-half performance and re-iterating its guidance for the full year, the stock bounced as high as €27.80 at one point. Though the share price had settled back to €27.35 by the close, it was still more than 3 per cent ahead, or 80.5 cent, and well off the lows seen in recent sessions.

The stock has been under pressure for the past 10 days or so, with brokers noting that it was trading as low as €23.60 a week ago. Although it regained ground yesterday, Kerry is still about 7 per cent off highs recorded in July.

Though it didn’t trade on massive volume, Paddy Power was the star performer, gaining more than 4 per cent, or €1.30, to close at €33.00.

Paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa, which one trader said has had a “topsy turvy” time of late, struggled again yesterday, and slipped 21 cent to €5.24.

Overall the Iseq index gained more than 1 per cent, bringing it to 2,566.22.