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ISEQ rises above 3,200 mark - just about

Wednesday, October 24 17:35:24

The ISEQ managed to regain the 3,200 level today with help from a rise in CRH shares and as investors sought out bargains.

The ISEQ was up 19.58 points to 3,211.41.

Shares in Elan jumped by 11c to E8.41 this morning but closed just 2c higher at E8.31 after it said third-quarter revenue rose by 10 percent as sales of its multiple sclerosis (MS) drug grew. Tysabri sales, the blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug it co-markets with Biogen Idec, grew 3 percent to $403.8 million, while the number of patients rose 13 percent. Elan relies on Tysabri for the bulk of its earnings following the failure of bapineuzumab, one of the most anticipated experimental drugs for Alzheimer's disease being developed with Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer.

Shares in CRH rose 13c to E13.64. The latest Architecture Billings Index (a 9-12 month leading indicator for the US non-residential sector) came in at 51.6 in September. This represents an improvement on the 50.2 in August and the index has now been above the critical 50 level for two consecutive months having been below the 50 level for the preceding four consecutive months. "Although the ABI has shown signs of improvement, we maintain our view that a cyclical recovery will be dampened by the difficult market backdrop for highways. With this in mind we continue to favour Wolseley given the sectoral breakdown of its US division (civil 15pc; non-residential 44pc; and residential 41pc) in comparison to CRH (infrastructure 48pc; non-residential 30pc; and residential 22pc)," said Goodbody's.