CRH and banks drag down overall market

DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 3,230.82 (-73.46) Settlement date: October 7thTHE DUBLIN market ended the week in negative territory yesterday. It mirrored the movement of its European counterparts, which all ended lower on the back of negative US employment data and investor fears that market gains have been premature.

The Iseq had slumped by almost 3.5 per cent by mid-afternoon but regained some ground to finish 2.2 per cent lower.

CRH, the main constituent on the Irish market, dragged the overall index down, finishing the day almost 3 per cent lower – a drop of 56 cent – at €18.15.

Falls by the two main banking stocks also weighed on the index. AIB and Bank of Ireland both opened around the €3.10 mark but were under pressure during the day, with some analysts noting profit-taking after recent gains in share price.

Bank of Ireland saw most of the investor interest in terms of volume – 11 million shares were traded – but its share price was down as low as €2.95 in the afternoon. It closed at €3.08, a fall of just over 5 per cent. AIB closed at €2.99, a fall of 4 per cent.

Irish Life & Permanent bucked the trend, ending almost 1 per cent higher at €5.30.

Airline stocks were down. Volumes were high in Ryanair stocks after the airline announced it had hedged 50 per cent of its fuel requirements for the first quarter of the 2011 fiscal year. It closed off seven cent at €3.39.

Aer Lingus closed 7 per cent lower at €0.66 as the lack of information on restructuring plans held investors back.

Paddy Power was one of the few stocks to advance, adding five cent after it announced that a contract with gaming supplier Inspired Gaming Group had been renewed.

Housebuilder Abbey advanced 3.6 per cent after reporting some revival of market confidence at its annual general meeting yesterday.