Market Report: The Irish market continued its recent underperformance yesterday, ending the first day of the week unchanged after what dealers described as a rather mixed set of trades. Activity was quiet in most stocks as many European traders made the most of the May Day holiday.

One of the stocks that was far from quiet, however, was Independent News & Media, which recorded 25 million trades on the Dublin Stock Exchange yesterday. Dealers said, though, that the large volume was probably a printing error and that one large trade of 12 million units had printed twice.

The purchaser behind the large trade was unknown, though market sources speculated it was likely to have been Denis O'Brien, who is known to be keen to raise his stake in the company.

The shares closed little changed, down 1 cent, at €3.43.

Elsewhere, some of the stocks that were hit hard by the property-related concerns at the end of last week picked up again, with Grafton leading the way.

The building materials group, which dealers said is now cheap compared to its peers, added 2.1 per cent, or 22 cent, to close at €10.90. As many as 2.7 million shares changed hands.

Elsewhere, CRH also put in a good performance, ending the day up 1.3 per cent, or 40 cent, at €32.25.

One of the biggest gainers, however, was property group Blackrock, which jumped 4.4 per cent after announcing a joint venture with Scottish developer Applecross Properties.

Dealers said the agreement, which involves the redevelopment of the former Edinburgh Fruit Market, was seen as a very good move by the company, both in terms of realising the value of one of its assets and also in the choice of partner. The stock closed up 2 cent at 47 cent.

Settlement day: May 3rd