ISEQ:2,980.54 (+25.42) Settlement date:May 24th

FOOD STOCKS were the flavour of the day on the Iseq yesterday, with Kerry Group, Glanbia and Aryzta all advancing on what was otherwise a quiet session for the index.

Kerry Group was the pick of the bunch, climbing by € 1.02, or 3.6 per cent, to finish the day up at €29.90. Glanbia added 12 cent, or 2.7 per cent, to close at €4.62, while Aryzta was up by 60 cent, or 1.6 per cent, and finished the day up at €38.20.

However, Total Produce, which in a statement to the stock exchange reiterated its full-year guidance, was largely flat on the day. It closed down by 1 cent, or 2.3 per cent, to finish at 43 cent.

Overall the Iseq was up by 25.42 points, or 0.9 per cent, out-performing the UK market.

Both Ryanair and CRH, the two biggest stocks on the index, were also up yesterday.

Ryanair added 5 cent, or 1.3 per cent, to climb to €3.58, and CRH advanced by 20 cent, or 1.3 per cent, to finish the day up at €15.75.

Among the financials, Bank of Ireland was the busiest yesterday. It advanced by 7 per cent early in the day following publication of its interim management statement which revealed that its loan-to-deposit ratio improved by about 10 per cent in the first four months of the year. However, it fell back later in the day to close down by 2.3 per cent at 22 cent.

Following Irish Life & Permanent’s agm on Wednesday, at which it announced it might need more than € 2.5 billion in capital from the State, its shares lost almost 1 cent, to finish down by 6.4 per cent at 12 cent.

IFG, which released a positive trading statement yesterday, was also down on the day, losing almost 1 cent to close down at €1.70

DCC, which had been trading up for most of the day, gave up 60 cent, or 2.8 per cent, to fall back to €20.70 by closing.