Dublin Report:A lack of Irish corporate news and the closure of the UK markets for its August bank holiday made for a lacklustre trading day in Dublin yesterday.

Volumes were light across the board in what traders described as a "nothing" kind of a day.

CRH was among the busiest stocks ahead of its interim results today, though volumes remained light.

The shares jumped 25 cent to finish the day at €22.28.

Goodbody forecast an 18 per cent increase in pretax profit but, in a note to investors, said it would be focusing mainly on the group's outlook. NCB said it would be looking for acquisition Meanwhile, Kerry, which is also reporting its interim results today, closed unchanged at €20.65. In a note to investors, NCB said that, while it expects sales to have grown by 6 per cent in the period, it would more importantly be looking for an update on last month's acquisition of Noon Foods, a UK maker of Indian ready-made meals.

Elsewhere, C&C was also up on the day, gaining 12 cent, to close at €4.25 with the group still benefiting from a series of reports on the positive take-up of its Magners cider brand in the UK.

Elan was among the gainers, rising 19 cent, to €16.85.

Another in positive territory was Greencore, which on Friday sold 100,000 shares in UK sugar distributor Napier Brown, reducing its stake in the group to 2.7 per cent and starting the process of withdrawing fully from the venture.

The group's stock yesterday rose five cent, to close at €3.57.

The financials were a mixed bag, with AIB and Bank of Ireland gaining 10 and 5 cent respectively, while Anglo Irish Bank closed down five cent, and Irish Life & Permanent off three cent.

Ryanair was four cent weaker on €6.55, hurt yet again by a further oil price increase to yet another record of more than $70 a barrel.

This was prompted by the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina.