CRH was the heaviest faller in the final session, the decline triggered by a legal battle with Corporacion Uniland which claims that CRH's 300m acquisition of a 26.3% stake in it was "unlawful". CRH stock fell by 16c to 2645. Banking helped the Iseq stay out of negative territory, Bank of Ireland up 12c to 1425 and Anglo Irish 9c to 1302.

LONDON FTSE 100 5764.10 Up 0.1% on week UK stocks declined on Friday, paced by Royal Dutch Shell as crude oil traded near its lowest this year. Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation fell after Singapore's PSA International said it won't raise its takeover offer for the British port company, leaving Dubai to win a three-month bidding contest. Shell fell 27p, or 1.5%, to 1,790. Crude oil for March delivery dropped 0.6% to $62.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. BP fell 8p, or 1.2%, to 640. BHP Billiton, which gets 20% of sales from oil and gas, fell 5% to 956p.

EUROPE Euro Stoxx 50 3434.26 Up 0.4% on week Stocks fell on Friday as a slide in commodities prices sent mining and energy firms, including BHP Billiton and Total, lower. Nordic telephone giant TeliaSonera declined after lower than expected earnings, but the market rebounded as Volkswagen did better than expected.

NEW YORK DOW 10,919.05, up 1.2% Nasdaq 2,261.88, down 0.1% S&P 500 1266.99, up 0.2% A rally sparked by falling oil prices and a larger-thanforecast US budget surplus sent US stocks higher on Friday. Share prices fell initially on a disappointing sales estimate from P"zer and a wider-than-expected trade de"cit.