Dublin report:As much as €3 billion was wiped off the value of the Irish market yesterday after what dealers described as an "incredibly nervous" trading session.
Sentiment was negative right across Europe, but Ireland yet again outperformed on the downside, with the Iseq index falling 3 per cent, to end the day at 7,188, its lowest closing price since July 18th, 2006.
As usual the banks were the main contributors to the declines, with the global negative sentiment being exacerbated by a negative research note from Merrill Lynch, in which the broker cut its earnings estimates for the three biggest Irish lenders by as much as 7 per cent.
Bank of Ireland fell 4.4 per cent, or 49 cent, to €10.61 and AIB was down 3.7 per cent, or 56 cent, at €14.77.
Anglo dropped 3.2 per cent, or 35 cent, at €10.60.
Irish Life & Permanent meanwhile fared somewhat better, closing just under 1 per cent lower, down 13 cent, at €13.70.
Elsewhere there was big volume - 8 million shares - in Ryanair, leaving one dealer to speculate that the company had been back in the market buying its own shares. Yesterday it revealed it had spent €17.6 million buying 3.2 million units on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Irish Continental Group fell 8.7 per cent, or €2.25, to €23.50, albeit on relatively light volume. Property developer Liam Carroll revealed he had increased his stake in the ferry operator to 29.75 per cent.
Independent News & Media also continued its buyback, purchasing 750,000 shares at a cost of more than €1.7 million.
Denis O'Brien was also back in focus, revealing yesterday that he had raised his stake in the newspaper group to 11 per cent. Shares in IN&M yesterday fell 5.89 per cent, or 14 cent, to €2.23.
