Market report:An eerie silence descended on the Irish stock market yesterday, with one dealer describing it as the quietest day of business in about five years.

Dublin traders twiddled their thumbs as the US celebrated George Washington's birthday by shutting its exchanges, and British investors and financial services professionals took leave of equity markets in favour of spending time with their children on their half-term break.

The Iseq index finished up by a modest amount, but the gains and falls posted by individual stocks were all accentuated by the light volumes, which meant buyers paid more than they perhaps normally would and sellers were forced to accept whatever price they could get.

News reported in The Irish Times on Monday that the Health Service Executive may seek tenders for drug suppliers overseas was seen as potentially negative for wholesaler United Drug, which fell nine cent to €3.85, a 2.2 per cent fall, in thin volumes.

With the London-listed FTSE banks up almost 5 per cent, the Irish financials had a good day. AIB climbed 29 cent to €13.39 - up 2.2 per cent - ahead of its full-year results tomorrow.

There is a feeling in the market that AIB has more exposure to the current difficulties being endured by the global banking sector than Bank of Ireland, which climbed 2 per cent yesterday to €9.50, a gain of 19 cent.

Anglo Irish Bank was the busiest stock on the day, with 2.3 million of its shares changing ownership, but it was also the flattest of the banks, losing one cent to close at €9.07.

Greencore fell 7 per cent for absolutely no reason, according to one dealer, who put it down to the extremely low volumes of the day.

Settlement day: February 21st