Speculation on major corporate developments at Jefferson Smurfit drove the shares up to an all-time high of 250p before the shares closed up 13p on the day on 249p. The absence of any follow-through buying of either Smurfit or JS Corp on Wall Street suggests, however, that American investors are treating the rumours with more caution.

Various rumours circulated in early trading - a bid for Smurfit by Finnish group UPM Kymmene, Smurfit buying out the balance of Austrian group Nettingsdorfer and more credibly the long-awaited merger between JS Corp and Stone Container. At the close, there were offers of stock at 250p and that would seem to be the ceiling for the stock until the corporate situation is clarified.

Otherwise, it was little change, with continued demand pushing the banks ahead, while industrials were a mixed bag. AIB and Bank of Ireland both dealt in size, with AIB closing 8p higher on £10.05 while Bank was 7p stronger on £15.45.

Other financials were strong, with Anglo Irish unchanged but well-bid on 194p while Irish Permanent regained a lot of lost ground with a 27p jump to 990p.

CRH, however, is going through a sticky patch and lost 11 1/2p to £10.35, while Fyffes was 5p higher on 180p. Recent profit-taking had dragged the share back to what is seen as an oversold position, while the decision of the McCann family and DCC to take shares in lieu of dividends also boosted the shares.

Iona did not trade in Dublin but was sold heavily in New York for no obvious reason, with the first quarter results broadly in line with forecasts. As the Irish market closed, Iona shares were down over $3 on NASDAQ to below $33 in heavy volume trading. Takeover speculation pushed Hibernian 10p higher to 840p, Jurys gained 25p to 635p while Kerry reached another new high, up 15p to £11 on an almost total absence of offers of stock.