Activity in the banks and other leading stocks drove the Iseq index of Irish shares up by 48.9 points to 8,071.98 during a busy day in Dublin yesterday.

Traders said the overall increase reflected growth in the leading European markets and the morning session in New York. The banks followed a general global trend and attracted plenty of buyers during the day.

Anglo Irish Bank was the best performer, adding 15 cent or 1.2 per cent to close at €12.60, after more than 4.6 million shares were traded. AIB also gained 15 cent to €20.05, while Bank of Ireland added three cent to end at €14.90. Irish Life & Permanent closed seven cent up at €19.10.

Kerry had another good day on the back of a recent positive assessment of the stock by NCB Stockbrokers. The stock gained 15 cent to close at €18.40, but dealers said it traded at a high of €18.70 during the day. Share volumes were strong, with investors buying almost 1.2 million units.

Building materials giant CRH remained popular and followed up recent gains by adding 10 cent to close at €27.30 on volumes of 550,000 units.

In the same sector, Kingspan added 57 cent to close at €16.17. However, dealers said not too much should be read into the performance as it traded at €15.84 for most of the day and only jumped shortly before the close of business.

Ryanair benefited from a dip in oil prices, now regarded as the main influence on the stock's performance. The airline added 22 cent to end the day at €7.88.

On the downside, Independent News & Media shed seven cent to end the day at €2.30 after investors sold about 2.6 million shares.

In contrast to Kerry, there was not much appetite for two other food stocks, Glanbia and Greencore. The former dipped three cent to €2.52, while the latter shed 10 cent to end the day at €3.95. Dealers said there were "reasonable" volumes in both.